


A New Dawn

by ohinyan



Series: Hidden [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Dark, Dubious Consent, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-22 14:58:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 41
Words: 98,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3733159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohinyan/pseuds/ohinyan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Torchwood team discover the truth about what happened on the Valiant and search for Jack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is Part 3 of a Trilogy. Part 1 is the story Hidden Behind Our Appearances and Part 2 is Too Long A Sacrifice. You need to read those first or this will make no sense.

Reversing your treatment of the man you have wronged is better than asking his forgiveness.  
 _Elbert Hubbard_

 

 

 

The UNIT soldier caught up with Owen in a bar. He had only just got there, so he was still sober. The last thing Owen expected, or indeed wanted, for his planned evening, was for a burly man, dressed in cords and a T-shirt with Nirvana emblazoned on it, to slide into the booth next to him. His haircut marked him as military. Wrong sex, wrong build, wrong everything. 

 

Owen was just about to challenge the man, and demand to know what the hell he was doing, when he said in a low voice, “Don't make a scene, I'm from UNIT.” 

 

“Then what the hell are you doing following me here?” demanded Owen. “If it's UNIT business, go through proper channels and contact me at the Hub when I'm working.” 

 

The man looked around shiftily, as if checking for unwanted observers. “I'm UNIT, but this is not official business. They'd throw the book at me if they knew I was contacting you. So promise me that you will not let on where you got the information I'm going to give you.”

 

Although Owen was exasperated, he could see that the man thought this was important. He settled back into his seat and said “OK, fine, tell me what you've got.”

 

The man looked around the bar once more, then leaned forward and spoke quietly, but urgently. “It's about the Valiant and your ex-boss Captain Harkness.” 

 

Memories of the months he had spent on the Valiant as a prisoner of the crazed Timelord, flashed across Owen's mind. His hatred of Jack Harkness bubbled up from where he had suppressed it, still fresh after more than 3 years. 

 

“That traitorous scum! He's in a UNIT prison, just like he deserves,” snarled Owen. “What could you possibly have to tell me about him, that I would give a damn about.”

 

The soldier winced. “When the Valiant was landed for a refit just over a year ago, they did a complete refurbishment, not just a repair like they did after the Saxon affair. They found a room off the main bedroom suite, which nobody knew existed. It was, …, well, you'll see later. But anyhow, in a storage area, hidden under a false floor of the bedroom, were a couple of hundred DVD recordings that Saxon had made of what went on in that room. The UNIT top brass have suppressed what was on them, but I saw some of it.” He hesitated, then announced emphatically, “It's not right what happened to Captain Harkness, he didn't deserve what happened to him after Saxon was defeated. But they'll never admit it.”

 

Owen was unconvinced. “If you really believe that, why did you wait a year before coming here?”

 

“It's not easy to steal evidence from UNIT,” explained the soldier, defensively. “I had to wait until they'd finished using it, and had locked it away for long term storage. And, since he'd escaped, it wasn't as urgent. You're lucky it even exists. If it had been on a computer or video tapes it would have been destroyed by the EMP on the Valiant. DVDs weren't affected."

 

“They never recaptured him then?” queried Owen. “I did wonder if they would bother to tell us if they did.”

 

“No, he got away about 18 months ago, and they never caught him,” the soldier confirmed. He pushed a key towards Owen. “It's for a lockup near the docks. The address is on it. I stole the DVDs and stashed them there.” Draining his pint, the soldier got up to leave. “If you want justice for him, get the facts out in the open.”

 

“Wait,” demanded Owen, “why are you doing this?” 

 

“When I'd just joined UNIT, we were attacked by some aliens. Several of my mates died. Then Harkness showed up and got them to go after him. I never found out what happened, but he saved my life. I can't just stand by and let him be treated like this, knowing what I do now.”

 

“Did you help him escape?” asked Owen suspiciously. 

 

“No,” the soldier answered, with something akin to shame, “he did that all on his own. Back then I believed he was guilty like they said. I helped him a little, making sure he got food and water in him, but I should have done more.”

 

The soldier left then, leaving Owen contemplating the key.

 

* * * * 

 

Late the following morning, Owen arrived at the Hub. He had the key with him. Tosh, Gwen and Ianto were already there, and made disparaging comments about his late arrival. The newest recruits, Mark and Joanne, were also already hard at work, but kept their comments to themselves. 

 

“Heavy night was it?” Ianto asked, as he placed a cup of coffee next to Owen in the briefing room.

 

“Not exactly,” Owen replied. “I was contacted by someone from UNIT. They claimed that Jack is innocent and UNIT is covering it up. I've been thinking about it all night."

 

Ianto scowled. “Well we know that's not true don't we?”

 

“They claimed to have the evidence stashed in a lockup, and they gave me the key.”

 

Ianto was nonplussed. “I suppose they must believe it then. But it doesn't make it true.” 

 

“They seemed to be totally convinced,” said Owen. “I think we should check it out. Let's get Tosh and Gwen in here and we can discuss it.” 

 

“What about Joanne and Mark, do you want them as well ?” queried Ianto.

 

“No, just Tosh and Gwen, it doesn't concern the others.”

 

* * * * 

 

Ianto fetched Tosh and Gwen. The four of them sat around the table in the briefing room. As Owen explained about the UNIT soldier and the evidence he had hidden away, Tosh's and Gwen's reactions couldn't have been more different. Gwen had the same dubious reaction that Ianto and Owen had both shown. But Tosh was excited and hopeful. She was also outraged that Owen had waited all night before doing anything about it.

 

“What are we waiting for,” she cried. “We should go there now and get it. Why did you leave it so long to tell us?”

 

“I wasn't sure what to do about the information, and anyway, there's no urgent hurry because Jack was never recaptured after his escape" 

 

Owen watched their reactions. Ianto and Gwen both looked annoyed. Tosh looked guilty. 

 

“Tosh?” he asked, as she stared down at the desk. “Is there something you want to tell us?”

 

Tosh took a deep breath and then admitted. “I knew Jack was still free. I talked to him, here in Cardiff, several months ago.”

 

Gwen looked at her with disbelief. “Why the hell didn't you tell us?”

 

“How could I?” Tosh retorted. “If any of you had found out, you'd have had UNIT down here straight away.” 

 

“Damn right we would,” Owen grumbled. “What was he doing here anyway?”

 

“He just wanted to see if we were all OK,” Tosh explained.

 

“And why didn't you call UNIT?” Gwen asked accusingly. 

 

“I would never do that. You don't know what they're like.”

 

“And you do, I suppose?” snapped Gwen. 

 

Gwen's remarks opened the floodgates, letting out the secret that Tosh had kept from all of them for years. “Yes, I do,” Tosh announced. “They had me locked up without trial for a year before Jack rescued me. And they don't treat prisoners well. They keep you locked in a concrete cell with nothing, barely even any light. And that's if you're not on their target list. I would not hand anyone over to them!”

 

The others were stunned by this revelation. The idea that Tosh had done anything to warrant being locked up by UNIT was incomprehensible to them. A barrage of questions issued from Gwen and Ianto and, despite his own desire to question Tosh, Owen could see that the matter at hand was about to be derailed. He intervened before things escalated. 

 

“Well that's a discussion for another day. What we need to decide now is if we go to retrieve this so called evidence.” 

 

“Of course we do,” cried Tosh. “If it really could clear Jack, how could we not? You should have seen him, he looked so sad.”

 

“My heart bleeds,” said Gwen, sarcastically.

 

“I agree with Tosh,” said Ianto. “Although I doubt that it will exonerate Jack, we still need to check.”

 

“It could be a trick,” Owen pointed out. 

 

“Why would UNIT want to trick us, we're all on the same side?” argued Gwen.

 

Tosh snorted.

 

“Yes,” agreed Owen, “but I only have the guy's word for it that he was from UNIT. He could be anyone. But I do think we should follow it up, carefully.” 

 

* * * * 

 

That afternoon, the four of them set off for the lockup. They treated it as a potentially dangerous mission, and approached cautiously, scanning for anything out of the ordinary. 

 

With guns drawn, Gwen and Tosh covered Owen as he unlocked the padlock. Ianto and Owen then burst in, sweeping the garage with their guns. There was no one there. Ianto and Owen holstered their guns. Tosh and Gwen kept their guns at the ready, remaining just outside the door. 

 

Somewhat anticlimactically, the only things in the lockup were two medium sized cardboard boxes. Owen stood back as Ianto cautiously approached them. He used a pen to poke the lid of one box open. Inside was nothing more threatening than a stack of DVDs. The other box was the same. 

 

“Well, it's just as the UNIT guy said,” commented Owen. “DVDs, supposedly from the Valiant. We'd better get them back to the Hub.” 

 

They arrived back at the Hub and unloaded the boxes from the SUV, taking them to the briefing room where there was a DVD player. Tosh looked through the boxes. “There's a couple of hundred of them, and they are all dated. It seems like there is one for practically every day that we were on the Valiant.”

 

“Well, it would take weeks to get through all these, even on fast forward,” Ianto pointed out. “But we might as well have a quick look now,” he suggested. “Just to see what we are dealing with.” 

 

“Yeah,” agreed Owen. “We could all do with a coffee anyhow."  When Ianto had sorted the coffees the four of them sat down to watch one of the DVDs. 

 

"Let's start with the first one," Tosh suggested, and slotted it into the machine.    
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Ianto looked at the date on the DVD box. “This is the day after the Master killed President Winters,” he stated, pressing the play button on the remote.

The DVD started.

Tosh and Gwen gasped.

It showed Jack, chained, standing between two pillars. He was dressed in his usual clothes. The field of view showed most of the room. He was alone. Nothing was happening.

After a few minutes of this, Ianto changed to fast forward mode. As nothing continued to happen, he started to skip sections. By the time they reached the end of the DVD, hours had passed on screen. Jack was looking tired, and was moving as best he could to try to ease his arms and shoulders. He looked to be in pain.

“I guess the Master kept him prisoner for a while, before Jack agreed to work for him,” commented Ianto.

“And standing with your arms up like that for hours, has got to hurt,” added Owen.

“Shall we call it a day, and carry on tomorrow?” asked Ianto, “I have to man the Hub tonight, but the rest of you could go home.”

“No,” argued Tosh, “that soldier clearly thought these were important, I think we should look at a couple more. We can skip through them again. If there's still nothing happening, then we can stop and carry on tomorrow.”

They were halfway through the third DVD, when the Master appeared. They had missed his entrance, and had to backtrack to the point where he came in. They watched as he circled Jack and gave him water.

With dawning horror, the team listened as the Master explained his secret room to Jack, while rubbing up against him.

When the Master took out the cricket bat and methodically broke Jack's arms and legs, Tosh couldn't help but scream “no” at the screen. Gwen covered her eyes in horror.

On the DVD, Jack, again alone, dangled helplessly in his chains.

Taking the remote control from Ianto, who seemed to be in a state of shock, Owen zoomed through the rest of the DVD. Jack was still alone, moaning pitifully when the DVD ended. It was the same through the next one, but in the fifth the Master reappeared and killed him with the cricket bat.

It got worse after that. DVD after DVD showed the Master indulging his creative side, with Jack as his canvas.

Owen was the most dispassionate observer. Though sickened, he watched the DVDs with a clinical detachment.

Gwen was aghast, watching in disbelief.

Tosh sat, head down, hands clamped over her ears, trying to block out the screams. She had been sobbing for hours. On the screen Jack was slowly dying, again, this time pleading for the Doctor to help him.

Ianto was gripping the arms of his chair so tight that his hands had practically frozen in place. He could barely contain his horror at seeing the Master reduce Jack to a sobbing, pleading mess, begging for death, over and over. It was different, intellectually knowing that Jack could survive such things, and seeing it graphically in front of him. He finally understood why Jack might agree to work for the Master.

Jack, alone, could not say, 'I would rather die than work for you.' Could he, himself, an all honesty, have done any different in those circumstances?

It had never truly sunk in with any of them, exactly how much suffering an immortal could be put through. Even for Ianto, who had worried so much about Jack in their early days on the Valiant. They had all seen Jack die, but this systematic destruction had been inconceivable. It had been brought starkly home to them now. There was no limit to the physical damage that could be inflicted, or the number of times it could be done.

“Perhaps we were a bit harsh to condemn him for trying to avoid this,“ Gwen suggested shakily.

“A bit harsh?” yelled Tosh, through her sobs. “What we did was bloody unforgivable! We knew he couldn't die, we should have known what that meant.”

“I knew,” admitted Ianto, his voice laden with guilt. “I worried about what the Master might do, but Jack gave no sign, so I thought he'd given up with barely a fight.”

An alarm echoed through the Hub.

Owen brought them back to the present abruptly. “It's 8am, and that was the cog door alarm,” he hissed. “It's Mark or Joanne.” Showing an unusual sensitivity, he added “Jack wouldn't want strangers to see any of this, so we need to pack it away for now.”

“He wouldn't want us to see it either,” interjected Ianto.

They fell silent suddenly, as Joanne entered the boardroom. She was their backup medic. With Jack's departure, the team had been undermanned and finding it difficult to cope. They had encountered her working at Cardiff A&E, when a weevil had rampaged through it. They had been impressed by the way she had accepted the alien encounter, and helped them. So, instead of retconning her, they had hired her. A second medic was something they should have had years before, in case it was ever Owen who was injured.

Detecting the unusual atmosphere in the room, Joanne looked from one person to another in confusion. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

“No, no, everything is fine,” Owen assured her.

Joanne looked pointedly at Tosh, who was trying to dry her eyes, and swept her eyes over the others. Every one of them looked shell shocked. But she did not argue. “OK then, Mark will be in soon, but first I just need to liaise with Ianto for the handover.”

“Oh right, yes of course,” stuttered Ianto, who had completely forgotten that he had been officially in charge of the Hub that night. “I'll see you downstairs in a minute.”

Owen took charge again. “Right, we all need to get some sleep, but we can't leave Joanne and Mark to do the day shift alone. So I will stay on duty. Ianto you're off duty anyway. Go home.” He turned to the others. “Tosh, Gwen, you were supposed to be on the day shift. Go home, but I'll call you if there's anything that we can't handle.”

Tosh started to object. “But we need to talk about this,” she argued, waving her hand at the DVDs.

“None of us are in a fit state to do that right now,” said Owen gently, knowing how upset Tosh was. “We've all been up for more than 24 hours, we'll discuss it when we're not about to drop with exhaustion.”

Knowing that he was right, and that she at least wasn't capable of thinking straight, Tosh gave in. She went to gather her things and head home. Gwen and Ianto joined her on the way out. They each kept their thoughts to themselves.

* * * *

When Tosh arrived home, she went straight to bed. Curled up alone, images that she had just seen flashed before her eyes. Jack, chained naked, with open wounds, burns, and so much blood. He had been so brave, defying the Master verbally between deaths. But, as the torture continued, she could see that his defiance was waning. And they had only watched the first two weeks of the Master's reign on the Valiant. It had been a month before the team were captured, and two more weeks before Jack had announced to them that he was working for the Master. Tosh prayed that Jack had capitulated long before the team arrived on the Valiant. She couldn't bear to think that he had been tortured for all that time.

Guilt washed over her, and she started to sob again. Jack had not willingly worked for the Master. No one could have resisted that. And how had the team reacted? They had treated him like dirt, Owen and Ianto especially, taunting and insulting him endlessly. He must have been so hurt. He had even asked them if they could imagine what the Master could do to him, if he refused to work for him. But they had ignored him. Not taking Jack seriously, even knowing that the Master tortured prisoners, they hadn't even considered what the Master could do to an immortal.

Tosh eventually cried herself to sleep.

* * * * *

When Gwen arrived home she found a distraught Rhys. Seeing her, he became furious.

“Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to be home yesterday evening. Do you know what I've been thinking? I thought you must be dead!” He paused for breath, before continuing to yell. “Would it be too much to expect a phone call, if you are going to be out all night?”

Gwen winced, she had been so caught up in the DVDs that she had totally forgotten that Rhys was expecting her home for dinner. “I'm so sorry love, something important came up at work.”

“So important that you couldn't spare a minute for a phone call?”

Not wanting to admit that she had forgotten about him, Gwen just nodded. “You could have phoned me,” she added.

“Have you checked your phone recently?” Rhys asked sarcastically.

Gwen dug in her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone. There were 28 missed messages. “God, I'm so sorry Rhys, I had it on vibrate when we were on a mission, and I left it in my jacket near my desk when we got back.”

“It's nice to know your husband is important to you,” snapped Rhys, before grabbing his coat and heading out of the door. “I'm going to work, I don't know what time I'll be home.”

Wearily, Gwen went into the bedroom to prepare for bed. The confrontation with Rhys had temporarily pushed Jack out of her mind, but now the events of the night rushed back full force. Gwen was torn, on the one hand thinking that Jack had had no choice, and regretting her attitude towards him on the Valiant. No one could have stood up to the abuse that Jack had suffered. On the other hand, she still believed that he had gone too far, torturing prisoners and becoming the Master's lover. He may have started out being coerced, but by the end he was willing, and she could not forgive that.

Crawling into bed, Gwen's exhaustion took hold and she slept.

* * * *

When Ianto arrived home at the flat he shared with his girlfriend Ellie, he found that she had already gone to work. As he had been scheduled for the night shift, she would not have expected him home before she left. He was relieved about that. He was in a strange state of shock, and did not want to have to explain to her what was wrong. How could he explain that he had spent the night watching a man he had once loved, tortured to death, not once, but again and again. And yes, he admitted to himself, he had loved Jack before he deserted them.

The events on the Valiant had turned that love to hate. After weeks of waiting, in vain, for a sign from Jack that all was not as it seemed, he had taken Jack's apparent betrayal much more personally than the rest of the team. Jack's relationship with the Master had been the final straw.

Ianto was totally confused. He now understood why Jack agreed to work for the Master, and he wished with all his heart that he had been more sympathetic to him on the Valiant. He had known what could happen to Jack. How had he lost sight of that when Jack had appeared to change sides? But Jack had never given any indication that he had been tortured into compliance. And somehow, within a few weeks, he had fallen into line with Owen and Gwen in thinking the worst of Jack. Tosh had lost faith in Jack by then also.

What he could not get his head round, now, was how Jack ended up treating the Master like a lover. Was it a sort of Stockholm syndrome, where the captive fell in love with their jailer? And when did Jack go from unwilling pawn to willing assistant and lover?

There was only one way to find out. Though the thought horrified him, he would have to watch more of the DVDs.


	3. Chapter 3

Though Owen had technically been on duty throughout the day, things had been slow, so Joanne had sent her boss to sleep in the bunker under the main office. This was used by whoever was on overnight duty. She had deduced that the original members of the team had been up all night, working on a project that, for some reason, they were unwilling to share with the new members.

She and Mark had been hired at about the same time. She knew that there had been some upset in the command structure of Torchwood, leading to the abrupt departure of their leader. This had led to the two hirings. Mark was an ex member of the police special operations squad, and a friend of Gwen's. She had approached him shortly after Joanne had been hired, and he had agreed to come work for Torchwood. He was a tall, strong guy, well able to take care of himself in a fight, and intelligent, a real asset to Torchwood.

While Owen was sleeping, Joanne had filled Mark in on the furtive behaviour of the rest of the team. His pragmatic attitude was just to wait, and when it was the right time, they would be told what was going on. As long as the mysterious project did not significantly interfere with Torchwood's functions, he did not have a problem with it.

* * * * * *

Late in the afternoon, the rest of the team started to trickle back in. Gwen was first, followed by Tosh, who still looked shattered. Ianto arrived back at 5pm, by which time Owen had emerged from the bunker.

Joanne and Mark, concluding correctly that the others would rather be alone, finished up their work and left dead on time at 6pm.

As soon as they had gone, Owen called a meeting in the boardroom. The others were there in double quick time.

As soon as they were all sitting down, Tosh couldn't hold back any longer. “What are we going to do about Jack?”

“What do you suggest we do about him?” asked Owen.

“We have to get him declared innocent,” she answered forcefully. “After seeing those recordings, none of you can doubt that he didn't work for the Master willingly.”

“No, I don't doubt it,” agreed Gwen, “but that was in the beginning. By the end of the Master's time on the Valiant, I think he was willing.”

“I agree,” concurred Ianto. “God knows we can't blame him for working for the Master, after what that psycho did to him. And I truly regret how harshly I treated him back then. But it doesn't change the fact that he tortured several people to death.” He scrubbed at his eyes, then brought up the fact that had hurt and plagued him since he had first seen it on the Valiant. “The way that he acted on that film, in bed with the Master. That wasn't under duress. That was someone in love. Something must have made that happen, and I want to know what.”

 

Tosh could hardly believe her ears. After seeing the hell that the Master put Jack through, they weren't rushing out to get him exonerated. “We can't just ignore Jack! He's out there somewhere, living in fear of UNIT. We have to help him.”

“You think that we can just announce to the judiciary that he was coerced, and he'll be vindicated?” asked Owen.

“Yes, isn't what we've seen so far enough?”

 

“I'm not a lawyer,” responded Owen, “we'll have to look into legal precedents, but I wouldn't count on it.”

“We have to watch more of the DVDs,” Ianto put in.

 

“Yes, if you want to make a case for Jack, we have to look for anything on those DVDs that could help,” Owen continued.

 

Tosh caught her breath. “No, I can't, I just can't watch any more of that,” she pleaded.

 

Ianto looked at her sympathetically. “It's OK Tosh, you don't have to. I'll do it.”

 

Tosh was pathetically grateful for that. She knew someone had to, and if it came down to her, or no one, she would have done it, for Jack's sake. “Thank you Ianto,” she said sincerely, “I'll help in any way I can. I can do double shifts to give you the time to go through the DVDs.”

 

“Me too,” said Gwen. “I'd rather not watch any more either.”

 

“God save us from female sensibilities,” snarked Owen. “I'll help you go through them Ianto, you shouldn't have to do it all yourself. We can split them between us.”

 

Ianto nodded his thanks.

 

“Gwen, you check into the legal situation,” ordered Owen. “Find out if coercion is a valid defense against the charges Jack was convicted of.”

 

“Tosh, find Jack. It'll do him no good if we can help him, but we don't know where he is.”

 

“But remember,” he added, “Jack is free, so there is no dire urgency. Urgent Torchwood business comes first.”

 

“Now, I'm off home for once, or Karen will think I've moved out.”

 

* * * * *

When Owen got home, he called out to his girlfriend. She was home and had been cooking, It smelled like chilli. Karen was great at making chilli. It came from the time she had spent living in Texas. Unlike Gwen, he had remembered to contact her when he didn't make it home. So his reception was a good deal more amicable.

Karen immediately noticed his despondency. She sat him down at the table, put his chilli in front of him, and sitting across the table from him, started on her own food. “What's wrong?” she asked.

Owen considered how much to tell her. Karen knew that he worked for a special ops organisation, but didn't know the precise details. In particular the word alien had never been mentioned. He could not explain the nine months that never was, when the Earth was enslaved by a psychotic Time Lord, so he couldn't put the case in context.

“Some new evidence has come to light in a case that I was personally involved in,” he started. “It's really grim stuff. And it's stirred up a lot of trauma and guilt in the team, as it directly involves someone we used to work with.”

“And what effect has it had on you?” asked Karen.

Owen hesitated. He was finding it difficult to reconcile the sympathy he felt for the Jack they had seen on the DVDs, the helpless, abused man, with the hate he felt for the Jack who he had watched torture and kill people who were fighting for mankind.

“I'm emotionally involved in the case. No, that's too weak. I hated the man involved, and I was a right bastard to him. Yet this new evidence shows that I may have totally misjudged him.” He grimaced as he got a wry look from Karen. She knew what he could be like.

“So you were wrong about him then?” she queried.

“I don't know, but I'm worried that I'll let my personal feelings affect my judgement.”

“I don't believe you would do that,” she reassured him.

“I'm trying to be impartial. We need to find out whether the evidence is enough to clear him. If so we'll have to take it to the courts. Tosh already wants to do that, but I'm going to make sure we have all the facts first.”

“Well it sounds to me like you are doing the right thing,” Karen said as she cleared their plates, stacking them in the dishwasher.

“I certainly hope so,” replied Owen.


	4. Chapter 4

Owen and Ianto had split the next month of DVDs in two. Ianto had the second half, so there was a gap of two weeks between the last one he had seen, and the first of the new set. The first thing that shocked him, as he started to watch, was the drastic change in Jack. No longer was he defiant when the Master, or his two sadistic guards, entered the cell. He immediately reacted with abject terror, cowering and cringing away from them. Ianto swallowed, but forced himself to continue watching as Jack was brutally butchered once again.

 

As Jack hung dead in his chains, the guards hauled in a huge metal spike and placed it behind him, so that he would not see it when he revived.

 

Ianto looked on in horror as the Master explained to Jack what was about to happen, and he was impaled on the spike. In an effort not to witness the full horror, he zoomed through the DVD on maximum speed. And the next one, and the next one, and the next one. It was 5 days later in onscreen time before Jack got off the spike. By this time, even though he had barely left his chair, Ianto felt like he'd run a marathon. He was watching it with all his muscles tensed ready for flight. An instinctive reaction to what was going on onscreen.

 

Suddenly, at 30 times normal speed, the Master, accompanied by Stevens and Modine, walked in. Ianto hastily stopped the DVD and backtracked to their entrance. He needed to hear what they had to say.

 

Jack was a mess, covered in blood, trembling with fear and pleading with the Master. Ianto cringed as Jack abased himself in front of the smirking Time Lord. He could hardly believe it when the Master ordered Jack to 'submit'. It was obvious what would happen if Jack did so, and Ianto was incredibly relieved when Jack rallied some last ditch defiance, and refused. Despite witnessing the atrocities the Master had inflicted on Jack, it had never crossed his mind that the Master would stoop to rape.

 

Ianto's relief was short lived, however, as the Master kicked Jack viciously and threatened to put Gwen or Ianto on the spike if he did not obey. Dread swept over him as he listened to the exchange, which resulted in Jack agreeing to do whatever the Master told him to, and begging the Master not to hurt any of the Torchwood team.

 

As Jack lay on the floor and spread his legs, Ianto hit the pause button and yelled “Owen!”as loud as he could.

 

* * * *

 

Down in the medical bay, Owen heard Ianto yell from the boardroom. He sounded panicked, and Owen raced up the stairs as fast as he could. Gwen and Joanne followed him. As they all ran into the boardroom, Ianto met them. He was deathly pale. “Not them,” he said to Owen, indicating the two girls.

 

Gwen and Joanne caught a brief glimpse of a man laying naked on the floor on the TV screen, before they were ushered out of the room.

 

“What is it?” asked Owen.

 

“I've found something,” explained Ianto shakily, “or at least I think I have, I stopped watching it so you could witness it too.” He hesitated, “God Owen, we made a massive mistake on the Valiant.”

 

Ianto went back to the point on the DVD where the Master had entered the room, and pressed play.

 

They watched as the Master threatened to hurt Gwen and Ianto. Jack, though clearly terrified, obeyed the Master and lay down. He allowed him to tie his hands with a chain, and loop it round his neck. And he barely moved as the Master knelt between his thighs and thrust into him.

 

It was far worse than Ianto could ever have anticipated. It was utterly brutal, and Jack died so many times. The Master didn't even stop while he was dead, obviously ecstatic when Jack died and revived.

 

When it ended and the Master left, Ianto stopped the DVD.

 

Owen looked at Ianto with shock.

 

“Jack was going to fight him,” murmured Ianto, fighting back tears. “Until he threatened me and Gwen, he was going to fight. And then he just lay there and let him do it! He let the Master rape him, for us.”

 

“The Master would have done it anyway,” Owen pointed out.

 

“Maybe, maybe not,” argued Ianto. “He may have been so busy torturing me, or Gwen, that he wouldn't have.” He picked up the DVD box. “This was one week before Jack told us he was working for the Master. I am so glad that he gave in and worked for him. Otherwise that sort of thing could have gone on for a long time. How could we have blamed him, and vilified him, for working for the Master? We should have understood!”

 

He looked at Owen, pleadingly. “Do you think he'll ever forgive me for treating him so horribly? I didn't just verbally attack him, though that was bad enough. At the end, I let that mob beat him up, and I didn't lift a finger to stop him being handed over to UNIT when it was all over. I'll never forgive myself, but do you think he could?”

 

Swimming in his own guilt, Owen was careful not to answer Ianto's question. He did not want to upset him any further by saying what he thought. “It wasn't just you Ianto,” Owen replied, “it was all of us. And we all refused to listen to him at the end.”

 

“That doesn't make it any better,” cried Ianto..

 

“Well, what can make it better, is doing all we can now. Which we already are doing,” Owen emphasised, trying to be positive. “We are going through the evidence, to see if we can make a case to get him vindicated.”

 

Ianto grabbed on to that like a lifeline. “Yes, Gwen should have something on the legal status of coercion by now. Let's go check with her.” He leaped out of his chair, and was heading for the door, when Owen stopped him.

 

“Ianto, I don't want the others to know what we saw yet. I think we should get the whole picture before we drop that bombshell on them.”

 

Ianto nodded bleakly. “OK, I won't say anything yet, but we will have to tell them eventually. Was there anything in the DVDs you watched, that I need to know about?”

 

Owen shook his head, “no, there was nothing significantly different from the first lot we watched. Although Jack was becoming more,” he groped for the right word, “fearful. Less defiant.”

 

“I noticed that too,” agreed Ianto. “It was very obvious after a two week gap. The Master was very close to completely breaking him.” He shuddered, “at least there is only another week to watch before Jack starts to work for the Master. Things should be better for him after that.”

 

* * * *

 

Gwen was understandably curious about what Ianto and Owen had been doing in the boardroom, but they were giving nothing away.

 

“Gwen, when Tosh gets back from lunch we're going to have a progress meeting in the boardroom,” Owen informed her. “Can you bring all the stuff you've gathered on the legal situation?”

 

“Sure,” she replied, “I'll tell Tosh when she comes in.”

 

Fifteen minutes later, the four of them were sitting in the boardroom. Ianto had worked his coffee magic. It was a way of calming his nerves.

 

“Right,” started Owen, “Tosh, have you made any progress on finding Jack?”

 

Tosh looked miserable. “No, I haven't managed to find any hint as to his whereabouts yet.”

 

“Surely there must be something?” asked Ianto desperately.

 

“If UNIT haven't found him after this long, he's got to have gone to ground really well,” Tosh pointed out. “I've only been searching for a day, I'm going to need more time.”

 

“That's OK Tosh, we know you're doing your best,” encouraged Owen. “Gwen, any progress on the legal front?”

 

Gwen looked even more depressed than Tosh. “Yes,” she answered, “but you aren't going to like it. I was hoping to find some further information before reporting, but the basic answer is that coercion, or duress, does count as a valid defense for most crimes. But, there are exceptions. And those are murder, attempted murder and treason involving the death of the sovereign.”

 

“Oh, God,” whispered Ianto. “You mean legally he's guilty, despite what we've seen?”

 

“I'm afraid so, Ianto,” Gwen confirmed. “Jack was convicted of treason against Her Majesty, aiding and abetting an alien invasion force, betraying humanity, torture and 28 counts of murder. Now there are no precedents for abetting an alien invasion, or betraying humanity under duress, and I'm not yet sure about torture, but for the 28 counts of murder, duress is not a defense.”

 

“What about the treason?” asked Tosh.

 

“That's a good question, it all depends on whether it includes the death of the sovereign.”

 

“The Queen is still alive,” Owen pointed out.

 

“Yes, but she was also murdered by the Master a couple of months after Jack started working for him,” Gwen pointed out. “And enough people know about that, for it to be unlikely that he'd get off the treason charge due to duress.”

 

“This is crazy,” Tosh cried. “How can they not allow duress of the type Jack was under, not to be a defense?”

 

“I'm quoting here,” said Gwen and, finding the correct place in her notes, read out “It is felt that, in the case of the most serious crimes, such as murder, no threat to the defendant, however extreme, should excuse commission of the crime.” She looked up at the rest of the team. “You're meant to die rather than be coerced into killing another person.”

 

“But Jack can't die,” yelled Ianto.

 

“No,” said Gwen gently. “But the law doesn't take his unique circumstances into account.”

 

Ianto was pacing up and down the boardroom at this point, looking like a volcano about to erupt. Tosh was practically in tears.

 

Owen put a hand on Tosh's shoulder. “We will sort this Tosh,” he promised. “We can all work double shifts. You keep on searching for Jack, and Gwen can do more research on the legalities. Ianto and I will carry on looking for evidence on the DVDs. We'll come up with something.”

 

 

As they watched Ianto and Owen leave, Gwen whispered to Tosh. “Is there something they aren't telling us? They both seem to be making this much more urgent than they did before, especially Ianto. He was frantic. And they kicked me out of the boardroom earlier.”

 

“There must be,” agreed Tosh.. “I'm really grateful it's getting them motivated, but I'm worried. And if they don't come clean soon, we're going to have to make them tell us. They've got no right to keep important things from us.”

 

“We were the ones who didn't want to watch the DVDs,” Gwen pointed out.

 

“Right,” acknowledged Tosh, “but we do need to know about anything significant.”

 

“Give them a couple of days,” advised Gwen. “They'll explain eventually, I'm sure. In the meantime lets do all that we can to find Jack and find someway to get him exonerated.”


	5. Chapter 5

After witnessing the Master rape Jack, Owen and Ianto agreed to watch the DVDs together, instead of splitting them. This was mainly for Ianto's sake, as he was finding it very difficult to cope. Owen, not having had a close relationship with Jack, was finding it less traumatic.

 

As they watched the DVD following Jack's rape, they found out that Tish had known what was going on with Jack. After hearing the Master's threats, though, they couldn't blame her for keeping quiet. Ianto was, in fact, incredibly grateful to her for giving Jack some comfort.

 

Watching Tish with Jack gave Ianto a niggling feeling in the back of his mind. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he almost felt as though he had forgotten something important. When he thought about it, he realised that he'd been feeling that way for a while, but it was getting stronger.

 

“What happened to Tish?” asked Owen suddenly. “She could be a witness for Jack.”

 

“I doubt it,” Ianto answered sadly. “Her whole family were taken off before time was reversed. She wouldn't have any memory of the Valiant.”

 

“Jesus, why didn't she say anything before she was taken off?” demanded Owen angrily.

“Maybe she didn't get the chance, or something happened to whoever she did tell,” Ianto suggested. “She surely would have said something afterwards, if she did remember.”

“You're probably right,” agreed Owen, “but just to be sure, we should get Tosh to check what happened to her. And to verify that she doesn't remember. If she is a witness for Jack, we need to know.”

 

* * * *

 

While Owen and Ianto watched the DVDs, Tosh set her latest search program, for Jack, running. While she waited for the results, Tosh took the first Valiant DVD, and started to check it. She picked that one because, compared to the later ones, it was innocuous. She did not really believe that anyone would fake DVDs showing such horrific scenes, but she harboured a faint hope that none of what they had seen was true. And she would be derelict in her duty if she did not check. She ran each frame through her program, looking for anything suspicious, which could indicate that the picture had been tampered with. There was nothing, no reason to believe that the DVDs were anything but what they seemed; an awful catalogue of atrocities perpetrated on Jack.

 

 

* * *

 

Owen and Ianto were continuing their depressing task of watching the DVDs. The next couple showed more of the Master's usual treatment of Jack, the only difference being that Tish was brought in to clean him and the room afterwards. Then, on the third one, everything changed.

Jack was chained to the wall, and was, as usual, a bloody mess. Owen and Ianto watched as the Master walked into the room. For once he wasn't accompanied by his guards. He stopped in front of Jack, with his back to the camera, but they could hear every word of the conversation.

 

“So Freak, you amaze me,” the Master said.

 

“Is it my sparkling personality?” responded Jack bravely.

 

“No, it's your ludicrous loyalty to your little gang,” answered the Master. “I saw the way they all mutinied, and murdered you, before they released Abbadon. I suppose I should have stepped in then, being the Minister of Defence and all, but it was fascinating to watch you deal with him.”

 

Ianto and Owen both cringed to hear the Master taunt Jack with that.

 

“You really owe them nothing. Yet, when I threaten them, you roll on your belly and let me do whatever I want to you. Why do you care what happens to them?”

 

 

“Loyalty is something you'd never understand,” said Jack vehemently.

 

“Oh, I understand it. I just don't understand why you feel it for those double crossing, so called friends of yours.” There was a pause while the Master paced around the room. Eventually he continued. “I'm bored of our little games. I need something new, and I'd like to see how deep that loyalty to your team really runs. Over the last month and a half you have seen first hand exactly what I'm capable of..”

 

Owen and Ianto also, by this time, understood that all too well.

 

“But it doesn't have to be that way,” the Master purred. “I have a proposition for you.”

 

“Here it comes,” said Ianto to Owen, “this is when Jack gives in and agrees to work for him. And none too soon,” he added with relief.

 

“Shush, or we'll miss something,” Owen pointed out. They both fell silent.

 

“What sort of proposition?” Jack asked.

 

“I will go easy on you. No more deaths, no more days of torture before I kill you, and no more rape.”

 

Knowing Jack intimately, Ianto saw the hope that tinged Jack's expression, although he was trying to hide it from the Master. He and Owen looked at each other, and smiled with relief that Jack's suffering would soon be over.

 

“I'm all for that, but what reason do I have to believe you?” Jack asked.

 

“You don't, but I am a man of my word. Even to the lower races like you. What have you to lose from giving it a try?”

 

“What do I have to do for this new arrangement?”

 

“That's the great thing,” crowed the Master. “Nothing!”

 

“Come on, you can't expect me to believe that.”

 

“Oh. Well. You do nothing, I turn my attention to your little friends, so they suffer instead of you.”

 

“What the hell?” interjected Owen. And on the screen Ianto saw Jack close his eyes in despair.

 

“And if I say no?”

 

“Why would you do that? These people murdered you and betrayed you.” The Master seemed genuinely mystified. “And I can do a lot less to them, than I can to you.”

 

“I still care about them. How can I stand back and let you do that if I can prevent it,” cried Jack

 

“If you say no, then you will have to play my new game.”

 

“What game is that?”

 

“Oh, I've come up with a brilliant scenario,” the Master declaimed exultantly, “You will work for me as my right hand man.”

 

“You want me to work for you?” exclaimed Jack in shock.

 

“Oh don't be ridiculous, that would be way too boring. I don't mean really work for me. I mean you appear to work for me. And you'd better be convincing. Any hint that it's not true, and I'll torture all of them, and you.” The Master paused to run his hand suggestively up Jack's naked chest. “And, behind the scenes, we'll carry on as we have been, no concessions. I'll ask you once a month if you want to continue, or accept the other offer.” He smirked, “they are going to hate you. It'll be fascinating to see how long it takes you to go for the other option.”

 

“No,” whispered Ianto in horror. “No Jack. Not for us. Not for me.”

 

“Or will you go for it now?” the Master continued.

 

Jack looked sick, and there was no longer any hope in his eyes. “You know I don't have a choice. I can't let you torture them.”

 

Watching, Ianto could only whisper “no,” again. Owen was rigid with shock.

 

The Master laughed, “oh you will eventually. But for now we need to make you presentable.” Jack was covered with open wounds, and looked like death. “No one is going to believe you work for me looking like that.” And with that, he pulled a gun and shot Jack through the head.

 

 

* * * * *

 

As Owen stopped the DVD, they looked at each other in shock and disbelief. Sick with dread, Ianto found his gaze dragged to the box of DVDs. Nine months of DVDs. So seven and a half months of recordings after Jack had announced he was working for the Master. How could they ever have believed that Jack would be OK after that time? Would the Master have bothered making recordings of an empty room, or of Jack well and unharmed?

 

 

Even then, Ianto didn't want to believe what he had just heard. “Tell me I misunderstood,” he begged Owen, “tell me that Jack didn't just agree to be tortured just to protect us.”

 

Owen just shook his head in misery, remembering the verbal abuse he had heaped on Jack. “No, you're not wrong, I wish to god you were. I can't believe it. How could Jack fool us all for so long? How could we not have seen that he was acting a part?”

 

 

And Jack had been totally convincing thought Ianto, with ever growing horror. After their initial denial, he and the others had never even entertained the thought that he had not betrayed them. And Jack had never gone back on the deal, no matter how cruelly they had treated him. He started to shake, and greyness edged his vision. Staggering to his feet, he ran out of the boardroom, desperate to get away from the visual reminders of his betrayal.

 

* * * *

 

By the time Owen had gathered his wits, Ianto was out of the Hub. Owen hurried after him, knowing that the younger man was in no state to be left on his own. He had to search for Ianto, but finally ran him to ground in a pub that the team occasionally frequented, a mile from the Hub.

 

By the time Owen arrived, Ianto was already drunk. He had gone straight for the hard stuff, and was on his fifth whiskey.

 

“Ianto mate,” said Owen gently, “this isn't going to help.”

 

“Well, what is?” demanded Ianto, “what could possibly help with this?”

 

Owen had no answer. How could anyone deal with finding out that a man they had once loved, but had then vilified and treated hatefully, had sacrificed himself for them at a cost to themselves that was barely conceivable.

 

Owen himself was only dealing with it by pushing it away from the forefront of his mind. He had Ianto to help, that was his focus.

 

“You need to go home to Ellie.”

 

“No, she won't understand,” argued Ianto. “How could she?”

 

“It's better than ending up drunk in a gutter.”

 

“How could he do it Owen? We've seen what the Master can do to him. How could anyone agree to more of that, just to save some people who could only die once! And people who had murdered and betrayed him. The Master was right, we didn't deserve his loyalty.”

 

“God knows I wish he hadn't,” agreed Owen, wishing he had an answer for Ianto.

 

“Oh, so do I,” answered Ianto with heartfelt emotion. Emotionally wrung out, Ianto allowed Owen to shepherd him out of the pub and back to his flat.

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

Eluned Evans, Ellie to her friends, was a hairdresser at a unisex salon near the bay. Ianto Jones, a stickler for neatness, was one of her regulars there. He was an enigmatic man. There seemed to be a deep sadness in him. He had been coming for a year before he starting unbending enough to respond to her flirtatious banter. But after another six months she had dared to ask him out and he had accepted. Their romance blossomed. Ellie and Ianto had moved in together two years after they had first met, six months after they started going out, though Ellie had not sold her own flat. Ellie had met Ianto's work colleagues, although she knew very little about what they actually did. Something hush hush that often required long, and strange working hours, and frequently led to injury, though fortunately this had only been minor.

 

It had been nearly four months since Ellie had moved in with Ianto, and she was still getting used to the unpredictable hours that he worked. He officially worked the night shift once a week, but, in reality, he could be out until the middle of the night, with no notice, several times a week. She had given up waiting up for him soon after they moved in together, as it could be dawn before he returned.

 

On this occasion Ianto had arrived home at midnight, escorted by Owen, who had left after seeing him safely home. He was fairly drunk and in a strangely emotional mood. She had never seen him like this. He could not stop pacing, and was trying, incoherently, to explain to her what was wrong.

 

Ellie had managed to glean from his, less than succinct, explanation, that Ianto's ex-lover, who had been sent to prison for multiple murders, which he did not deny committing, was actually innocent. Why that was making Ianto act as if he had personally crucified the guy, she could not fathom. She was also shocked that his ex was (a) a man and (b) a convicted murderer. She wasn't sure how she felt about either of those facts. Ellie was realising just how reticent with his past Ianto had been. He had never even mentioned this Jack, before.

 

She tried to calm him down. “Ianto, love, you're home now. Have a sit down, and a drink, and calm down. You can't blame yourself for whatever crimes your ex committed.”

 

“You don't get it,” Ianto hissed, “he sacrificed himself for me, and I let him be locked up for murders that he was forced to commit.”

 

Ianto's manic attitude was contagious, and Ellie snapped back at him sarcastically without thinking. “Oh don't be so melodramatic, what did he do, take points on his license for you?”

 

Ianto was incensed by her words. He forgot that she had no way of knowing about the nine months that never was, or what Jack had done for him. Nor any clue about how much he had once felt about him. Advancing on her threateningly, he yelled “Don't you dare make light of this. Get out! Get out of my flat.”

 

Fearing that Ianto was actually going to hit her, Ellie grabbed her bag and ran out of the flat in tears, heading for her own flat a few miles away.

 

 

* * * *

 

Ianto trembled as he stood in his bathroom. He knew he had been totally unfair, and he had not intended to be cruel to Ellie, but her words had been so dismissive of Jack that they had ignited his anger. He knew that that anger was really directed at himself. He had betrayed Jack utterly, while Jack had given everything he had to protect him and the others. Jack had paid for their safety with blood, pain and degradation. And they had repaid him with hate and abuse.

 

How had he managed to keep up the pretense in front of them for so many months? And why the hell hadn't he pulled out of the deal with the Master, in the face of their complete rejection? As he brooded, Ianto removed his shirt and stood in front of the mirror. As he looked in the mirror he ran his finger along his flesh, following paths that he had seen drawn on Jack's body in blood. As he traced lines across his chest and along his arms, he started to dig his nails in, leaving faint marks behind. It wasn't enough. Yanking open the bathroom cabinet he pulled out a razor blade. Lightly at first, he ran it over the path he had traced with his nails, moving it from one hand to the other to reach them. Then he started to push slightly harder, a thin line of blood marked out the new path. It still wasn't enough. He needed to feel a tiny fraction of what Jack had felt every day. Holding the blade in his right hand he slashed the outside of his left arm from shoulder to elbow. He clutched the sink and as the blood ran down his arm he lowered his head and sobbed.

 

* * *

 

Tosh and Gwen had seen Ianto run out of the Hub, looking like the devil was after him. He was followed by Owen, who chased him out of the Hub.

 

“You two man the Hub, OK?” Owen called over his shoulder as he ran out.

 

They nodded, but Owen had already gone.

 

“What the hell was that all about?” Gwen exclaimed.

 

“I don't know,” commented Tosh, “but they were watching the DVDs, so I'd bet that it has something to do with Jack.”

 

They both eyed the boardroom. Then Gwen said, “Come on Tosh, we need to know what's going on.”

 

Entering the boardroom, they saw that the DVD player was on pause. The logo was travelling round the screen. Pressing play twice started the DVD again. On the screen Jack was hanging dead in his chains, with a gunshot wound to his head.

 

“Well,” said Gwen, “that doesn't look as bad as most of what we've seen. There must be more to it. Let's rewind.” She rewound fast, past the point at which the Master entered the room, before stopping it. Seeing it backwards, there didn't seem to be anything traumatic going on.

 

“They were talking,” Tosh pointed out. “We should listen to the whole conversation.”

 

“Yes”, agreed Gwen. “I'll go from where the Master walked in.” And she pressed play.


	6. Chapter 6

In Manchester, life went on in a set pattern for Jack. He got up, got ready for work, went to Paddy's Goose pub to pick up clients, and spent the night servicing them. He lived for the days he could have his fix. There was nothing else in his life that he wanted. If heroin had been cheap, and easily available, he would have taken it every day. But he had to keep in control enough to earn it. So, he forced himself to keep to his schedule. Only once every three days. His work schedule was arranged around this. He had lapsed once or twice, when something had set off his traumatic memories, but had then fought his way back to the three day schedule. Each time he lapsed though, it became harder and harder to get back on schedule.

 

It was time for work. Jack checked his appearance in the mirror. Tight black trousers and short sleeved, heavy metal, T-shirt. The track marks on his arms were becoming prominent again. He'd have to do something about them soon. Grabbing his leather jacket, he headed off to meet Ray at the pub.

* * * *

 

Owen headed back to the Hub, after he had seen Ianto home. He knew that he couldn't keep the information about Jack's deal with the Master from Tosh and Gwen, he just needed to work out the best way to tell them. Tosh, in particular, was going to take the fact that Jack had sacrificed himself for them, very hard. And, ironically, she had far less to feel guilty about than the rest of them .He, Gwen, and Ianto, had all helped to make Jack's life hell on the Valiant. And, although Tosh had also believed that he was collaborating with the Master, she alone had refrained from taunting him. In fact, the only time that Owen could remember Tosh attacking Jack in any way, verbally or physically, was when she tried to prevent him from dragging Gwen out of their cell.

* * * * * *

 

In the boardroom at the Hub, Tosh and Gwen were sitting, stunned into immobility by what they had just heard. On the screen, Jack revived from his gunshot wound and was released from his chains. The Master ordered him to leave the room and get cleaned up. After Jack stumbled out, the DVD just showed the empty room.

Tosh was breathing heavily, and looked about to cry. As Ianto had done before her, she looked at the pile of DVDs still to be watched. “It can't be,” she said to Gwen. “The Master can't really have meant it, can he? No one could be that cruel.” The instant she said it she knew that, of course they could, and the Master would indeed be that cruel.

Gwen looked at her in disbelief. “Of course he could, how could you doubt that!”

As Tosh lost her battle with the tears, she mumbled “he said that he had a better use for us, but, as nothing ever happened, I forgot about it. He said it only a few days before Jack told us he was working for the Master. This must have been what he meant.” Breaking down completely then, she spoke through wracking sobs, looking at Gwen for help in understanding. “But why would Jack go along with it? He could have been safe! Why did he sacrifice himself for us?”

As the horror of the situation sank in, Gwen remembered how Jack had acted when she had visited him in his cell, after the Master was dead. It hit her like a hammer blow.

“Oh God, Tosh.”

“What?”

“He begged me,” stuttered Gwen, “after the Master was defeated, Jack begged me to get him off the Valiant before time was reset. He was desperate to forget. He even offered to jump off the side.”

Tosh was shocked that Gwen had never mentioned this before. “Why did you refuse?” she demanded angrily. “Didn't he explain why?”

“No, I never gave him the chance,” admitted Gwen hysterically. “I thought he deserved to go to trial. Oh God, I condemned him to keep the memories of what that butcher did to him! It could all have been erased, except that I wouldn't listen.” She jumped out of her chair, and, grabbing at the DVD box, began pulling them out randomly. “There's one for every day on the Valiant. And I could have made it not happen.”

By this time Tosh was in an equally hysterical state. “You idiot,” she shouted, “that was the one chance to fix this.”

On the screen the DVD kept on playing, showing only an empty room. .

* * * * *

It was well after midnight when Owen got back. Two hours had passed since he left. But, he had left the two girls in charge, so he knew that, barring a rift alert, they would still be there. What he did not expect, was that they would be in the boardroom crying hysterically, and in a state of shock. DVDs littered the table. It was obvious that he was too late, and they had discovered the truth about Jack on their own. Surprisingly, Gwen appeared to be in an even worse state than Tosh.

Tosh saw him as he walked back in. She leaped up, and ran towards him. “You knew about this! How could you not tell us!”

Owen held up his hands placatingly, “I was coming back to tell you about it. I couldn't earlier, since Ianto took it very hard when we saw it. I couldn't just let him run off on his own.”

 

“Well, where is he then?” demanded Tosh.

“I tracked him down to a pub, and took him back home to Ellie. He'll be OK with her.”

“Well, if this was what upset him this evening, what was wrong earlier? What aren't you telling us?”

Owen floundered. He really didn't want to tell them about the brutality of the rape that Jack had been subjected to, nor the reason that he had not fought against it.

He was saved from responding, by an alarm. It was a weevil sighting in Bute Park. Owen briefly considered calling Joanne and Mark in to deal with it, but quickly changed his mind. They had been dumping far too much of the Torchwood donkey work on them lately.

“We have to deal with this,” he announced. “And it'll be a good chance for everyone to step back a bit from the emotional precipice we're all on. But we need to focus. I don't want any injuries due to inattention.”

“Are you going to call Ianto in?” asked Tosh.

“No,” Owen replied, “he was drunk, and completely shattered by what we saw He'd be a liability and a danger to himself.”

“And we aren't?” asked Tosh.

“Not to the same extent,” Owen replied.

Pulling themselves together, Gwen and Tosh set off to collect their equipment, and they headed off to the SUV.

* * * * *

When Ianto had run out of tears, he stood in his bathroom, and gazed at his arm. It was a mess. In a dreamlike state, probably due to shock, he washed off the blood and retrieved some bandages from the cabinet. Working for Torchwood meant that you kept such things handy. Bandaging his arm, as best he could, he went into the bedroom and tried to sleep. It did not come easily. He tossed and turned for hours, remembering what the Master had said, hoping against hope that, even so, things would be better for Jack than before. Eventually he fell into a fitful sleep.

* * * * *

Jack was chained in his usual place, between the pillars. He was naked but unharmed. Ianto walked up to him brandishing a wicked knife, and began to slice across Jack's chest and arms. Jack looked at him, with hurt and disappointment in his eyes, and whispered “I love you.” This just made Ianto slice more fiercely, and, as he watched the blood flow, he hissed, “I hope he hurts you.”

“I know you love me, Ianto,” Jack gasped through his pain. In response to that, Ianto stabbed him through the heart and twisted the knife, while declaring, “I don't love you!” He woke suddenly, drenched in sweat, and shaking like a leaf.

Practically falling out of bed, Ianto stumbled his way to the bathroom, and turned on the shower. As the water cascaded over his body, his violent trembling slowed. He leaned against the wall of the shower, as he remembered the dream. Everything he said to Jack in the dream, he had said in reality. And he might as well have knifed Jack in reality, his words probably hurt as much.

 

* * * *

By morning, Ianto was sober, but dog tired. He had been unable to sleep for fear of more nightmares. His thoughts and emotions were in turmoil. The magnitude of Jack's sacrifice was monumental, but Ianto knew that he and the others were not worthy of it. He looked at his arm, swathed in bandages. Even that proved just how unworthy he was. Jack had suffered to prevent harm to him, and this was how he repaid him.

His brooding was interrupted by the ring of the doorbell. Quickly pulling on a dressing gown, he went to the door and answered it. It was Ellie. He was very glad that the dressing gown completely covered all evidence of his injured arm.

“Can I come in?” she asked tentatively.

Ianto opened the door wide. “Of course,” he said apologetically, “you do live here.”

“Do I?” queried Ellie. “Last night you made it very clear that this is your flat.”

“I'm so sorry, Ellie, I never meant to react like that. I was drunk and ...”

Ellie interrupted before he could finish. “I thought you were going to hit me Ianto.”

Ianto was taken aback. It had never crossed his mind to hit her, he would never do such a thing. “Ellie, no, I would never do that,” he said with horror, “You must believe me!”.

Ellie looked unconvinced. “I came for some of my things. I'm going to move back into my flat. I think you need some space, while you deal with whatever it is that has you so upset.”

Ianto was about to argue with her, when he realised that she was right. He was going to be a nightmare to live with while the team searched for Jack, and tried to get him exonerated. Ellie was not a part of that world. In fact, he had deliberately kept her in the dark about what he actually did. Ianto had started dating Ellie in an effort to put his past with Jack behind him. He wanted to have a normal life, outside Torchwood. When she had asked him out, he had accepted, and things had worked out well. Although he did not have the passion, or depth of feeling for her, that he once had for Jack, they were happy. Or at least they had been until last night.

“You're probably right,” he admitted sadly. “But I'll come and see you when things are on a more even keel.”

“If you need to talk to anyone,” she offered, “I'll always be there for you. You know that.”

Ianto nodded, although he knew that he would never talk to her about this.

Moving quickly around the flat, Ellie gathered up the things she needed and, stopping to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, walked out of the door.


	7. Chapter 7

The morning after they had seen Jack refuse the Master's offer, Gwen and Tosh arrived for work simultaneously . Both had swollen eyes from crying. Neither Ianto nor Owen had arrived, though Mark and Joanne had been at the Hub since 9am. 

 

  


Mark almost went up to them, to ask what was wrong. But, on receiving a warning look from Joanne, confined himself to reporting that everything was quiet, and coffee was ready and waiting in the kitchen. Tosh and Gwen nodded their thanks and, fetching some, went to sit together in the boardroom. 

 

  


Tosh was the first to break the awkward silence. “Gwen,” she started tentatively. “I'm really sorry I shouted at you yesterday. I was just so overwhelmed by what Jack did, that I wasn't thinking straight. It could have been any of us with Jack in his cell after the Master died, and we would all have done exactly the same. None of us would have let him off the Valiant.”

 

  


Gwen looked at her miserably. “Thanks Tosh, but I'll always bear the guilt for that.”

 

  


At that moment, Ianto entered the room. If anything, he looked worse than the two girls, though, as always, he was impeccably dressed in a suit. Ianto took one look at the girls and stated flatly, “you know then.”

 

  


Tosh and Gwen nodded sadly. “We saw it on the DVD after you and Owen ran out of the Hub,” Tosh explained. 

 

  


A look of utter grief crossed over Ianto's face, though he immediately suppressed it. He surreptitiously pressed the wound in his arm, wanting to feel the pain. He covered up the gesture by appearing to brush a thread from his suit. “I see Mark made coffee again,” he said, trying to behave as if all was normal. 

 

  


Tosh approached him, cautiously. “It's OK to show how you feel, Ianto. We understand, we know what you must be feeling, because we are feeling it too. Maybe not quite so deeply as you, since you and Jack were so close, but we all betrayed him. And to know that he rejected the chance at escaping torture, to keep us safe, is heartbreaking.”

 

  


Ianto reacted badly to that. “You can't possibly understand what I feel Tosh,” he snapped angrily. “You didn't betray the man who loved you. You didn't taunt him viciously. You didn't tell him that you hoped the Master would hurt him!” He had to stop at that point, practically in tears. “And you didn't tell him you never loved him, as he was being dragged away by UNIT.” He did break down then, and slumped into a chair with his head in his hands, tears flowing freely down his face. The girls sat either side of him, and offered what comfort they could. 

 

  


  


A few minutes later Owen arrived, and found them like that. His heart sank. He had hoped that his team would have got their emotions under control overnight, so that they could focus on what needed to be done. He backed out of the boardroom quietly without being seen. 

 

  


* * * * 

 

  


Owen waited for half an hour, to give his three colleagues time to compose themselves, before he returned to the boardroom. He found them sitting despondently around the table. 

 

  


“So,” he began, “now we all know what deal Jack made with the Master. I assume that we are all in agreement that we do anything that is necessary to get Jack exonerated, and make sure that neither UNIT, nor any other government institution, have any right to imprison him.” . . 

 

  


“Damn right,” agreed Tosh vehemently. 

 

  


“We can't even blame Jack for torturing those rebels,” put in Gwen, “he must have done it to protect us.” 

 

  


“And there must be some reason why he ended up, apparently willing and enjoying it, in the Master's bed,” added Ianto. “Owen, could it have been Stockholm syndrome?”

 

  


  


“Not a typical case, no,” replied Owen. “That refers to long term hostages becoming emotionally attached to their captors, in gratitude for the lack of physical abuse. It would be incredibly surprising if that happened to Jack, since the Master abused him horrendously. The Master would have had to offer him something Jack perceived as kindness, for him to develop Stockholm syndrome.” 

 

  


Gwen grasped at the straw that offered. “Maybe the Master didn't continue abusing him, perhaps he just wanted to see whether Jack would accept the deal, but didn't follow through with his threat.”

 

  


Owen considered, “in that case, then yes, the cessation of the torture could lead to that.”

 

  


Gwen smiled with hope, “then maybe that is what happened.” 

 

  


Tosh, who had been listening, while growing more and more angry, burst into the conversation at this point. “Are you insane, you can't possibly believe that. Do you really think the Master would make all those DVD recordings, if he wasn't torturing Jack!”

 

  


“Not really no,” agreed Owen. “But it will be easy enough to check,” he pointed out.

 

  


Tosh ignored him, and continued her tirade. “And you have all changed your tune about Jack torturing and killing the rebels, and being the Master's lover. Gwen, Ianto, just two days ago you were implying that, despite being tortured, Jack deserved to be locked up because he was a willing accomplice in the end.” She gestured wildly. “How does it change anything if he did what he did to save us, or to save himself? How come you're only now willing to give him the benefit of the doubt?”

 

  


Gwen blanched and looked ashamed. Tosh was correct. The knowledge that Jack had appeared to work for the Master, and had killed for him, to keep them safe, had totally changed her attitude. 

And the same was effectively true for Ianto, though he had started to change his attitude a few hours earlier, when he saw Jack allow the Master to rape him because of a threat to him and Gwen. Gone was the suspicion, replaced by a certainty that there must have been some reasonable explanation for Jack's actions, an assumption that he had had no choice. Even Owen had reacted that way, although he hadn't been quite so obvious about it. 

 

  


Tosh looked at them with sadness. “You'd better hope that Jack never finds out what it took to make you trust him.” 

 

  


“How did we lose our trust in him so quickly, and so completely?” asked Gwen.

 

  


“I suppose that, deep down, we knew that everything he accused us of was true,” admitted Owen. “We all betrayed him before Abaddon. Hell, I murdered him. So we all knew that he had no reason to be loyal to us. And he's a great actor. From what we know of the way the Doctor treated him, he couldn't expect Jack to be loyal to him either.” 

 

  


“I didn't want to believe he was working for the Master,” argued Ianto. 

 

  


“Me neither,” agreed Tosh. 

 

  


“But he kept up the act so well, for so long, I eventually gave up hope that it was a trick,” continued Ianto.

 

  


“Do you think?” Gwen suggested tentatively, “that we were being influenced by the Archangel network? We know it influenced people to believe and trust the Master, and he told us Jack was working for him. Couldn't it have enhanced our willingness to believe it? Even a small effect might have been enough for us to believe Jack's act. And by the time Archangel was deactivated we were all firmly convinced and never questioned it.”

 

  


“Maybe,” Owen agreed. “Who voted for Saxon in the election?”

 

  


They all raised their hands. “Well, who knows,” Owen shrugged. “Think that, if it makes you feel better. But it's not relevant now. We just have to find Jack and help him.”

 

  


“What if he doesn't want our help?” asked Ianto, with sorrow. “He may want nothing to do with us, and who could blame him.”

 

  


“We at least need to find him and offer,” Owen continued. “And we need to get him exonerated, so he can stop living in fear.” 

 

  


“He needs us,” Tosh put in. “You should have see him when he came to Cardiff. I asked him if he needed anything. He said no, and that he was fine. But it clearly wasn't true. He looked awful.”

 

  


“Well, we'd better get moving then,” declared Ianto. “Everybody get back to work. And Jack is everyone's top priority,” he insisted, somewhat usurping Owen's authority. 

 

  


* * * * 

 

  


As Gwen and Tosh hurried off to continue their efforts to help Jack, Owen went to check in with Joanne and Mark, and deal with any Torchwood matters that needed his attention. They had been lucky over the several days since Owen had met the soldier in the bar, and the rift had been quiet. But it couldn't last, and Owen was well aware that they could not neglect their Torchwood responsibilities indefinitely. 

 

  


  


Ianto stood up, surveying the DVDs, which were scattered all over the table. He knew in his heart that Tosh was right. It was what he had realised when he saw Jack's deal with the Master. The Master would not have shown any mercy, and these DVDs would show horrors for Jack that he could barely even conceive of. Holding back his grief by pure willpower, he started to gather them up and put them back in order. As he sorted them he came across one that was labelled differently to the others. Instead of a date it had Home Movie # 3 written on the box. 

 

  


Intrigued, Ianto put it in the machine and pressed play. He recognised it immediately, as the film the Master had shown them on the Valiant. He was about to switch it off, having no wish to see that again, when Jack and the Master began to speak. There had been no sound when the team saw the film before.

 

In the film, Jack got off the bed with a big grin, and walked towards the Master saying “Ianto, I've missed you.”

 

Ianto was totally confused. Why would Jack call the Master Ianto? As they spoke, and things got heated, it became clear that Jack believed that he was with him (Ianto) not the Master. And suddenly all the familiar touches and gestures made sense. The affection was meant for him all along, not for the psychotic madman that Jack was actually with. 

 

Ianto slumped in his seat, with a combination of happiness and incredible guilt. How the Master had manipulated Jack into that situation, Ianto did not know, but finally understanding healed a part of Ianto's heart he had long thought dead. This film was the reason that he had truly hated Jack. Throughout the time on the Valiant, Ianto's feelings of betrayal had warred with the remnants of love that he felt for Jack, deep down. Seeing Jack offer the same intimacies to the Master, as he had once given Ianto, was too much. That film had been the final nail in the coffin of his love, and it had finally turned to hate. 

 

They had all been so wrong. Jack had never been the Master's willing lover, nor his willing accomplice. It was not Stockholm syndrome. And the Master had known exactly what he was doing, when he showed the Torchwood team that film. It had poisoned their minds against Jack, leaving them all unwilling to hear any explanation from him. 

 

  


But no longer, Ianto vowed to himself, pressing his injured arm hard. He would do anything it took to make things right. 

 

  


* * * * 

 

  


After her previous failure to find any leads on Jack, Tosh finally had a stroke of luck. She had been digging into Jack's past financial affairs, going back years. She had found evidence that he had set up several bank accounts in different names, depositing large amounts in each of them. Checking the history of each account, she discovered that they had been left untouched for years, until just after Jack's arrest by UNIT. The accounts had then been frozen by the government, along with all Jack's other accounts. UNIT had obviously found the hidden ones. There had been no attempt to access the accounts until two years after they had been frozen. But, the day after Jack escaped from UNIT, an attempt had been made to access each of them. It had to have been Jack who did that. 

 

  


Excitement building, Tosh started a program to track the computer at which the attempts had been made. There had clearly been an attempt to make this impossible, but Tosh was confident that the program she had designed could back track through the incredibly complicated path. 

 

  


While waiting for the results, and searching for any other lead she could find, Tosh allowed the 

implications of Jack's failed attempt to access his accounts to sink in. He had just escaped from UNIT, and presumably had nothing, and no money. He would have been traumatised, and desperate to hide, and he must have been devastated to discover he could not access his money. She couldn't imagine how he had coped. 

 

  


Two hours later, the computer beeped and Tosh dropped what she was doing and hurried over to read the results. She couldn't believe what she saw. The computer claimed that access to Jack's accounts had been attempted from the Hub! It couldn't be true. How on Earth had Jack managed to use a route that would fool her program into giving that result. Practically crying with disappointment, Tosh headed to Owen's office to report her failure. 

 

  


* * * * . 

 

Gwen, meanwhile, was having a bit more success. She had accepted that Jack was legally guilty, and was looking at what could be done for him, despite that. And she had arrived at one conclusion. 

He needed to be pardoned by the Monarch, under the royal prerogative of mercy. A pardon was the forgiveness of a crime _and_ the cancellation of the penalty. They were given, not to people who had been wrongfully convicted, but to those who were morally innocent of the offence. Usually the Monarch would only grant pardons on the advice of a government minister, the Defence Secretary for military cases like Jack's, but Gwen knew that Jack would have no chance if they went through that route. They would have to approach the Queen directly.

 

  


  



	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been asked by a few people if what I say about the legal situation regarding duress and murder is true. The answer is yes, as near as I could ascertain by researching UK law on the internet, everything I said about duress, murder, treason, and pardons and the royal prerogative is true. I have often used direct quotes from legal websites.

At lunch time, Joanne headed out and bought sandwiches and crisps at the local supermarket. She thought that, if she didn't, then Owen, Ianto, Tosh and Gwen would not stop to eat. As she did the rounds, handing them out, she could practically see the waves of sadness coming off the old team. 

 

  
  
  
Owen and Ianto were in the boardroom, while Gwen and Tosh were working at their desks. 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
“You should take a break to eat lunch,” suggested Joanne to Tosh and Gwen. “Why don't you come and eat with me and Mark? We should get Owen and Ianto too.”

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Seeing the sense in that, Tosh smiled and, picking up her food, headed for the lunch area. Gwen followed and a few minutes later Owen and Ianto joined them. It was a quiet lunch, no one was in the mood for chit chat. When they had all finished, Owen ordered everyone back to work. Before following Ianto to the boardroom, for more DVD watching, he went to his office to check on the rift predictor program. It showed only low levels of activity expected. 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Mark and Joanne were the last to leave the lunch area. They had had enough. In the space of a week, they had watched their teammates disintegrate into emotional wrecks, buried in a project that the new members were not trusted to help with. Practically all other Torchwood business, however, was being left to them.

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Joanne nudged Mark hard, when Owen went to his office. “Go talk to him,” she hissed. “Tell him we can't go on like this.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Nodding grimly, Mark got up from his workstation, and went to knock on the door of Owen's office. Getting no response, he stuck his head round the door. “Owen, I need a word.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Owen looked up. “Is there a call out?” he asked. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
“No, nothing like that, it's still quiet.” He hesitated, then plunged in. “Joanne and me, we're not happy about the way things have been run around here lately. The rest of you barely do any Torchwood work anymore. You're all so obsessed with whatever is on those DVDs, that you're not pulling your weight with the things that we are supposed to be doing.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Owen sighed. He knew that Mark was right. “I'm sorry Mark. We have been neglecting our duty. But there is a really urgent situation that we need to deal with.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“You're going to have to give us more information than that, if you want us to keep on covering for the rest of you. We need to know that you have a good reason.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“It's related to our previous boss. You know that he left Torchwood suddenly, just before you and Joanne started?”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Mark nodded. That was all they knew, however, as the rest of the team never mentioned their ex-boss.

 

 

 

  
  
  
“His name is Jack Harkness, and, about three years ago, he was tried and convicted of multiple murders, torture and treason. He was put in a UNIT high security prison after that.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“Jesus!” exclaimed Mark. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
“Yeah,” agreed Owen, “and what's worse, is that these DVDs show that he was coerced, and committed the crimes to protect the rest of us.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Mark was understandably shocked. “Then can't you give the relevant authorities the information, and get him out?”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“No, for one thing UNIT tried to suppress the evidence, and, unfortunately, it doesn't clear him.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“But, you said he was coerced ...”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“Yes, but, apparently, acting under duress is no defense against murder. You can imagine how the girls feel, and Ianto. He and Jack were an item, and he took it very hard when we thought Jack had betrayed us. To find out that he did everything for us, and we let him be locked up by UNIT ...” he shook his head and trailed off. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
“Well, I can see why you've been working on the case non-stop,” admitted Mark. “But you can't carry on like this. Joanne and I can't carry the load alone much longer.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“We know what we need to do now,” Owen explained. “We have a load of DVDs to trawl through, looking for evidence to support the case to get Jack pardoned. Between the four of us, working double shifts, I guess that will take a week. After that, two of us can be back on regular Torchwood duty, while the other two carry on preparing the case.” 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Owen knew that he'd be asking a lot with his next question. “Can you and Joanne carry on taking the major load for another week?”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Mark looked unhappy at that, so Owen ploughed on. “Obviously, if there was a serious incident we'd all be close at hand, ready to assist.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“Why can't two of you do it, over a longer timescale?” Mark asked. “The guy has been in prison for years, what does a couple of weeks matter?”

 

 

 

  
  
  
It was hard for Owen to put into words the urgency that the whole team felt for getting Jack exonerated. “It's complicated,” he started, “we all owe him an immense debt, and we have totally failed him so far. Plus, he escaped about 18 months ago, so he's on the run.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Mark could see how important this was to Owen, and presumably it was equally important to Ianto, Tosh and Gwen. “OK, Joanne and I will hold the fort for one more week. But after that, some of you will have to come off the Harkness case, and back on to regular Torchwood work.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Owen smiled, and clapped Mark on the back. “It's a deal.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * * 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Knowing that, in fairness to Joanne and Mark, they had a limited timescale within which all four of them could keep working on Jack's case, Owen called Ianto, Tosh and Gwen into the boardroom. He explained the situation. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
“I guess we can't blame them,” admitted Gwen. “So, we'll just have to do things as fast as we can.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Tosh and Ianto agreed. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
“They've agreed to give us one week, before two of us stop working on Jack's case,” Owen explained. “I figure that, working double shifts, someone could cover about two weeks worth of DVDs per day. With two sets of people watching the DVDs, we can cover roughly a month per day, possibly more if we can fast-forward through most of it. In a week that will get us close to the end of the DVDs.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“I don't think anyone should watch them alone,” he continued. “So, I suggest that Ianto and Tosh take one section, Gwen and I will take the other.” Owen's main motivation for pairing them up was that, although he thought he could cope, he feared what Ianto's reaction would be if he were left alone to watch. And it would be useful to have two people's perspective on what was most relevant to Jack's defence.

 

 

 

  
  
  
He looked at the girls apologetically. “I know that you didn't want to watch, but, if you think it's urgent, as I think you do, we need your help.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Tosh looked determined, and glanced over at Gwen. “We owe Jack, and I think we both know that we need to do this as fast as we can, so of course we'll help.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“There is something I should warn you about before we start,” Owen said seriously. “What Ianto and I never told you, is that the Master raped Jack, and it was brutal. You should be prepared for him to do that again.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“Is that what upset Ianto so much the other day?” asked Tosh. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
“Partly,” admitted Owen, glancing at Ianto.

 

 

 

  
  
  
“We knew he must have done that,” interjected Gwen. “When the Master offered Jack the deal, he said 'no more rape.'”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Owen had forgotten that detail.

 

 

 

  
  
  
“But it can't be any worse than some of the other things he did,” continued Gwen. “We'll cope. We need to do this for Jack.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Owen and Gwen took the DVDs covering the first two weeks after Jack's deal with the Master. Ianto and Tosh took the following two weeks. Tosh and Ianto went down into the archives, to use the spare DVD player down there. As they got set up, Tosh offered to make notes of anything that was relevant to Jack's defence. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Owen and Gwen used the boardroom. The first few of their DVDs showed nothing but an empty room, so were dealt with very quickly. They knew, from the date on the box, that these were the days leading up to Jack telling them that he was working for the Master. Finally, on the 4th DVD, the Master came back into the room. He was followed by Jack. They watched as the Master clapped, and congratulated Jack on a wonderful performance. Jack began to visibly shake and, within moments, Gwen's vain hope, that the Master would not follow through on his threat, was dashed. The Master offered him the chance to fight his way out of the room, and be left alone, or fail and be raped. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Jack got in a few good blows against the Master, leaving him bleeding from his nose, but it became obvious, all too soon, that the Master was just playing with him. As Jack made a desperate lunge past him, towards the door, the Master whirled, shot out a hand, and grabbed him by the ankle. He yanked Jack off his feet, to slam into the floor, his hands only inches from the doorway. The Master dragged him back in to the centre of the room. He then beat Jack with his fists, and judging by Jack's reaction to each blow, this was much worse than if a human had done the same. In minutes Jack was only semi-conscious. He lay, unresisting, on his back in the centre of the room, as the Master tore his shirt off. He gouged deep furrows down Jack's chest with his nails, and leaned in to lick the blood. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
As the Master yanked at Jack's jeans, Gwen could watch no more. Switching the DVD off, she ran from the room. Owen followed her, and found her in the kitchen leaning against the counter, head down. “Gwen, are you OK?”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“What do you think?” she retorted. “I know you warned me, but still I couldn't cope with it. How do you take it so calmly?” she exclaimed, “knowing that Jack went through all this for us!”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“We have a job to do,” Owen replied, “and we owe it to Jack to do the best job we can, to get him exonerated. That means we have to watch these DVDs, and compile the evidence. We have to cope. And remember, what you are feeling is nothing compared to what Jack went through.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Bowing her head in shame, Gwen acknowledged that Owen was right. “Let's get back to work,” she stated, and they went back to their grim task.

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * * 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
As Tosh and Ianto watched the DVDs, fast-forwarding through any periods of inactivity, it became clear that, after the deal with Jack, the Master's behaviour had changed. He still tortured Jack on a daily basis, but he also raped him frequently. He seemed to have got the taste for it. He also expected absolute subservience from Jack. Any hesitation, however slight, in obeying the Master's commands, was met with violent punishment and threats against the Torchwood team. The only respite Jack got, was after the Master killed him, to get him fit for public appearances, or when Tish was able to help him. 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
They could barely believe that the trembling, broken, man they saw in the Master's secret room, was the same as the outwardly calm person they had hated and taunted unmercifully.

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
How the hell did he do it !

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Jack woke suddenly, and panicking. He thrashed for a moment, trapped by the sheets, before freeing himself and leaping out of bed, heart beating rapidly. In his nightmare, he had relived one of the slow deaths the Master had put him through. It was not unusual. The longer the time since a fix, the more vivid the nightmares became. As his heartbeat slowly returned to normal, Jack looked at the clock. It was mid afternoon, he had had several hours of sleep. Time to get up. 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Grimacing at the sweat that covered him, and at the stickiness that was left from his overnight client, Jack walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. As he showered, he allowed himself some time for anticipation. Today was heroin day. Memories licked around the edge of his consciousness like flames, but he forced himself to ignore them. He was going to enjoy some time, knowing that he was about to get his fix. He showered slowly, then dressed in scruffy jeans and T-shirt. He made some toast, while stripping the bed and changing the sheets. 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
After he had eaten, he went over to the door and locked it. His client had left it unlocked when he left. Jack knew that Ray's men were on the ground floor, making sure no one caused any trouble. They knew it was his heroin day, and would not allow anyone up to his room, but he still preferred the door to be locked while he was stoned. 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Finally ready, Jack went to his bedroom, and started to prepare the heroin. As always, he was very careful with the dose, resisting the urge to take just a little more than usual. As the moment got nearer, he began to tremble with excitement. He drew the liquid up into the syringe, and tied a ligature around his arm. Laying back on the bed, he injected the drug into his arm. In seconds was glassy eyed, floating in bliss. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Finally, after watching hour after hour of grim footage of Jack and the Master, Gwen got the chance to go home to Rhys. She was in a state of shock. It had been traumatic enough watching before, but now she knew that everything Jack suffered was for her sake, and the rest of the team, it was orders of magnitude worse. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
The only thing she wanted when she got home, was to fall in to bed. But sleep eluded her. As they lay next to each other she asked, “Would you die for me Rhys?” 

 

 

 

  
  
  
“Of course I would, you know that,” he replied.

 

 

 

  
  
  
“Would you live in agony for me?“

 

 

 

  
  
  
Rhys was shocked. “What do you mean?”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“If someone gave you the choice between being unharmed, or volunteering to be tortured to keep me safe, what would you choose?”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“What kind of a question is that?” demanded Rhys “When would I ever end up with a choice like that?”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Realising that she should not be quizzing her husband in this way, Gwen backed away from the question. “Sorry Rhys, it's just a case that I've been working on. It's got me really over emotional.” She snuggled up close to him. “Just hold me.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
As Gwen lay there, trying to sleep, she considered the question the other way round. Would she have done that for Rhys, or indeed anyone? With total honesty she realised that she would not have been able to do it. 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Tosh had maintained a stoic facade, throughout watching the DVDs, by pure willpower. But when she got home, all the willpower drained away and she let go. Wracking sobs shook her, as she fumbled her way though a small meal, a bath, and got ready for bed. She cried for so long that, when she woke the next morning, she had all the symptoms of a cold, including an awful sinus headache. She dosed up on painkillers before she went back in to work. 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Returning to his flat, Ianto had a shower. Then, walking naked to stand in front of the mirror, he took up the razor blade and made a deep cut, from just under his left clavicle, across his chest, finishing above his right hip. He dropped the razor blade, and pressed the wound hard with his palm. The pain did it's job, and diverted his mind from the dark thoughts that would otherwise not leave him. Jack in agony, Jack dying, Jack brutally raped. And all to save them. 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Laying a towel across his bed, to protect it from the blood, he lay down and hoped that sleep would release him from his thoughts. It did, in a way. 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Ianto dreamed. He was in his cell on the Valiant. Owen was awake, but laying on his bunk. Ianto paced to and fro in agitation. There was something important he had to do, something he had to remember. And it was urgent. But it lay just out of reach, at the edges of his consciousness, and his mind would not grasp it. The scene shifted suddenly, and he was chained to the wall in the Master's secret room. Jack stood in front of him, wearing his black clothes. He spoke just three words, before fading away. “Remember, Ianto. Remember.”

 

 

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Owen manned the Hub that night, although he was extremely grateful that there were no rift alerts. Pulling double shifts, and then sleeping at the Hub, was a recipe for disaster. Joanne and Mark were right. It couldn't go on. Just a few more days, he told himself. But the thought of what those days would bring was horrific. How much more agony could the Master put Jack through? He could barely believe that Jack had refused the deal again, after a month of the Master's attentions.

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * 

 

 

 

  
  
  
The following day, Tosh and Ianto, and Owen and Gwen, each took more DVDs to watch. Their guilt and horror had only increased, as they watched the endless cycle of torture, rape and death that Jack suffered for them. Their guilt was enhanced by knowing that, during every interval when Jack was sent out into the Valiant, and spared pain for a few hours, they had negated this respite by heaping emotional pain on him. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Thankfully, most of what happened could be watched on fast-forward, though they had to listen to anything the Master and Jack said to each other. They dutifully catalogued the events, as part of the evidence for Jack's case. They knew that the most important part of the case would be what led up to Jack torturing and killing the rebels. But they did not skip ahead to the time that happened, for fear of missing something important. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
They had realised, very soon after the seeing the deal, that Tish had known everything that was going on, and about the arrangement Jack had come to with the Master. And, although they knew it was probably hopeless, it became even more important to contact her, just to check that she was indeed one of the people for whom the nine months had been erased. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * 

 

 

 

  
  
  
On the third day of solid DVD watching, things on screen changed from the usual routine. Owen and Gwen had come to a conversation between Jack and the Master, about making a home movie. They watched the Master order Jack to behave as a lover, and then garotte him to remove some bruises. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Owen shook his head in disbelief, as the Master gave Jack his orders. “Jack's a great actor, but I can't believe that anyone who'd been abused to this extent, would ever manage to 'get it up,' as the Master put it, for his abuser. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
“But we know that he did,” argued Gwen. “We've seen the film. Maybe he is that good an actor.” 

 

 

 

  
  
  
They continued to watch the empty room, straining to hear the sounds coming from the next room through the open door. It wasn't long before it became obvious that things were not going according to the Master's orders. They couldn't make out words, but they could hear the Master shouting with fury, followed by the sounds of blows. It went on for several minutes, and then there was silence. Several minutes after that, they heard other voices in the room. Eventually, Tish and Stevens carried Jack back into his room, and left him there. Tish came back briefly, before Jack was left totally alone, locked into the secret room once more. Owen and Gwen fast-forwarded through several more DVDs, before Jack finally died of his injuries. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
* * * * 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Ianto and Tosh's DVDs started with Jack being hauled over to the chains dangling from the ceiling. The Master waved a syringe at Jack, and then said “After your abysmal failure last time, I thought you might need a bit of help.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
They were both totally confused by that statement. It obviously referred to something from Owen and Gwen's DVDs. Understanding dawned, as the Master said he'd be waiting in his bedroom. Tosh blushed furiously as they saw Jack rise to the occasion, and writhe in distress. He was left there for hours. He practically threw himself at Modine when he was released from the chains and dragged out of the room.

 

 

 

  
  
  
“I guess this is when they make that film that we saw,” ventured Tosh as they zoomed through scenes of the empty room.

 

 

 

  
  
  
“I doubt it,” Ianto replied. “Jack didn't look drugged up in that, and anyway he thought he was with me.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“He thought what!” asked Tosh in surprise.

 

 

 

  
  
  
Ianto suddenly realised that, with all the stress of everything that was going on, he had not told his colleagues what he had discovered about the film. “God, I'm sorry, I should have explained to everyone. I found the film on one of the DVDs. Home movie #3. It had sound, and it was clear that Jack though he was with me. I don't know how the Master did it, but somehow he convinced Jack to believe that he was me.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
“So he wasn't knowingly, or willingly, going to bed with the Master?” exclaimed Tosh. “Ianto, how could you not tell us? You know what seeing that film did to the rest of us. It didn't just affect you.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Tosh didn't need to say it, Ianto was already feeling like a complete heel. Not telling the others was a dreadful thing to do. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
After zooming through several hours, Jack was finally returned to the room and chained up again. The drug was clearly still acting, and they cringed as he screamed, desperate for release. Fast-forwarding several more hours, they watched aghast as the Master released Jack from his chains and smashed his hands. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
The next several days on the DVDs were the more typical interactions between Jack and the Master, though they did find out why Jack wore black clothes. Then came the three month anniversary of the deal. Although they knew that Jack never accepted the Master's offer, Ianto and Tosh watched with bated breath, as the Master repeated the offer. Jack refused, to the Master's astonishment. But it was what came after that kicked them in the gut; Jack's declaration of love, followed by the Master's denunciation of the team, and his declaration, “They don't love you.” They watched Jack look the Master straight in the eye and admit quietly, “I know.”

 

 

 

  
  
  
Tosh's stoicism left her at this point, and she burst into floods of tears. Ianto stopped the playback, stunned and truly ashamed. Even after the team had betrayed him, and treated him horrendously, Jack still loved them. Even knowing that they did not love him, he had continued to pay for their safety with his blood and agony. And when it was all over, and everyone else was safe, he had been rewarded with rejection and imprisonment. 

 

 

 

  
  
  
Ianto grabbed his arm and raked his nails across the wound. Even protected by his suit jacket, it hurt like hell. He did it again, and did the same to the wound on his chest. They started to bleed. Fortunately, Tosh was too caught up in her own misery, to notice what he was doing. Standing abruptly, Ianto announced “That's enough for today, I'm going home,” and fled. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter of DVD watching after this, then the plot will move on.


	9. Chapter 9

For two more days they ploughed through the DVDs, taking notes of anything that could be used to help Jack's case. Snatching only a few hours sleep, between double shifts, they were all becoming physically exhausted. Add to this the emotional trauma of seeing someone tortured, for their sake, and the team were a mess. Only Owen was maintaining his equanimity through the grim task. On the plus side, Ianto's cuts were beginning to heal, and he had managed not to add to them since the night he'd seen the Master declare to Jack that the team did not love him.  


At last they reached, what they all hoped would be, the final day of DVD watching. Tomorrow, the plan was that Owen and Ianto would largely return to Torchwood duty, along with Joanne and Mark, while Tosh and Gwen prepared Jack's case and searched for him.  


* * * *   


Gwen and Owen watched the Master inject Jack with a chemical, and then leave him alone. It had soon become clear what the chemical was, as Jack became more and more aroused, and distressed. They saw Tish help him, before the Master snatched away their brief period of happiness. Then came more of the usual pattern. Torture and death, followed by an empty room, while Jack was elsewhere on the Valiant. It was late afternoon before anything unusual happened.  


As Owen put the next DVD in the player, he noted down the date, in preparation for taking notes. He pressed play, and for the first hour or so they saw nothing but an empty room. Finally, the Master and Jack entered the room together. Slowing the DVD to normal speed, they could immediately see that Jack looked terrified. He cringed away from the Master, but to no avail. The Master hit him so hard that he flew across the room, obviously badly injured as he landed.  


As the Master furiously berated Jack for giving the rebel a quick death, Owen realised that this could be one of the key points for Jack's defence. This must be the point at which Jack was persuaded to torture the rebels.  


He was about to point this out to Gwen, when the Master shouted “I am going to punish you for this. You were warned what would happen if you didn't obey me. I am now going to kill one of your friends.”  


* * * *   


Tosh and Ianto had spent the whole day down in the archives, going through their assigned DVDs. There had been nothing unusual, just the grim playing out of Jack's awful life on the Valiant. They decided to watch just one more, and then take a much needed break.  


The DVD started with the room in semi darkness. Jack stood at the far end, naked, his hands nailed to the wooden beam. They had seen him in that state many times, through the months the DVDs covered. Then, to their astonishment, the Master walked into the room, followed by Stevens and Modine, who were manhandling a struggling Ianto. They dragged him over to a set of chains on the wall, and secured him.  


Ianto gasped in shock. Seeing himself in the hidden room, released a barrier in his mind. The memories of that night flooded back, overwhelming in their intensity. He remembered what had happened, as if it were yesterday. He remembered the feelings, and the love.  


Tosh was looking at him in amazement, obviously about to demand why Ianto had never told them that he had seen Jack in this state on the Valiant.  


“Stop Tosh. Stop the DVD! I remember,” he exclaimed.  


She did so.  


Ianto looked devastated. “The Master, he let me see Jack, and then he retconned me. The guards held me down, while he poured it down my throat.” His voice broke, “I knew what it would mean to Jack, if I forgot, but there wasn't anything I could do to stop it. I must have broken his heart.”  


Tosh moved over to him, and put her arms around him. “Ianto, it wasn't your fault. The Master used you in one of his mind games against Jack.”  


Ianto was trying desperately to hold back the flood of emotions, that had been released by the breaking down of the retcon. He needed to get away, to be alone to deal with it. But, if Tosh realised how upset he was, he'd never get away from her. He forced himself to smile, and appear calm. “You're right. But I don't want to see this DVD. I remember everything, so there's no need. I'll just go make coffee for everyone. We were about to have a break anyway.”  


Tosh looked worriedly after him, as Ianto left the room. But, she let him go. She turned her attention back to the paused DVD. Ianto did not want to watch it. Should she just skip it, trusting that he remembered anything significant for Jack's defence, or should she watch it while he was absent? Deciding that Ianto might not have perfect recall of what happened, she started the DVD again, and began to watch.  


* * * * *   


As Ianto walked through the Hub, tears threatened to blind him. He remembered the love, he felt it as strongly as he had done on that night. And he remembered how he had stabbed that love through the heart and shredded it with his words. He remembered Jack's face, as he raised his arm in a half hearted gesture, asking Ianto for help when the mob surrounded him, and the bitter acceptance in his eyes as Ianto turned away. By that time Jack had expected nothing else.  


But even after that, Jack had not given up on him, calling out for him to remember, and declaring his love. But he had rejected every overture Jack had made. Then, he had compounded this by denying that he had ever had feelings for him. “I know you love me,” Jack had said, and this was how he knew.  


Slipping out quietly, without anyone noticing, Ianto set off for home. 

* * * *   


Owen and Gwen watched, appalled, as Jack knelt in abject supplication at the Master's feet, begging him not to hurt them. It got worse. The Master sent a guard for petrol, and announced that he was going to burn one of the Torchwood team. Jack's begging and pleading ramped up at this. Knowing that Jack had been reduced to this, to protect them, Gwen could barely watch.  


It got worse. Stevens arrived with a can of petrol, and the Master demanded that Jack choose one of his team. Jack failed to answer, and the Master responded by choosing Owen.  


Owen went rigid, as Jack shouted “No. Burn me!” He watched, in disbelief, as the Master drew it out. But eventually, after Jack had promised to follow his orders to the letter, agreed to burn Jack instead of him.  


They watched as the Master ignited the petrol on Jack, and the fire took hold. Jack's screams were hellish, and he writhed in agony. Mercifully, the flames grew quickly, and his struggles did not last long. Soon, only a corpse burned in the chains. But worse was to come, as Jack revived while still unhealed. They watched him screaming in agony, as he changed from a charred wreck, to his normal healthy body. When it was over, he hung in his chains, limply, barely conscious.  


Gwen was so busy trying not to throw up, as they watched the horrific images, that she did not notice Owen's reaction. He remained rigid throughout Jack's immolation, but his face was tortured.  


As he watched, Owen felt the composure he had maintained, through all the awful scenes they had witnessed, crumbling. He had been horrified at Jack's treatment by the Master, and shocked by his sacrifice, but deep down he never really believed that Jack did it for him. For Ianto and Gwen, yes. And probably for Tosh. But he had thought that he was just incidental, that Jack would not have done it just for him. That belief had allowed him to keep an emotional detachment, that the others had not had. But this. This was for him directly. And what a sacrifice. As a medic, Owen knew that burning was a terrible way to die. And for Jack to beg the Master to burn him, for Owen's sake, despite Owen's treatment of him, was too much.  


Owen started to shake. All the years that he had hated Jack for torturing the rebels, and Jack had done it for him. He had gone to a UNIT high security prison, largely due to his actions over the final days of the Master's reign. And Jack's worst crimes were done to save him.  


The DVD showed Jack, slumped, but whole once again, in his chains. Owen stood abruptly, knocking his chair over as he did so. He was still shaking. If Jack did this for him, then everything he had suffered over the long months since his deal with the Master, had also been as much for him as the others. The weight of that realisation, and the guilt, hit him like a ton of bricks. Breathing heavily, he headed for the door, brushing past Gwen as he did so.  


When Owen stood up, Gwen finally looked at him. She was shocked. He looked wrecked. She was also confused. Yes, the scenes they had just seen were hellish, but so were many scenes that had gone before, and Owen had never reacted badly before. She had, Tosh had, and Ianto most definitely had, but Owen had always been calm. And this was the scene they had been waiting for, where they found out exactly how the Master persuaded Jack to torture the rebels. It would be a major part of his defence.  


As Owen went past her, Gwen caught his arm. “Owen? Are you OK?”  


“Christ, no,” he exclaimed, shaking her hand off. “How the hell could I be all right after that! I need a drink. And I'm not going to stop until I get those images out of my head.”  


“But we need to finish the DVDs,” Gwen protested. “This is the last day before you and Ianto go back to regular Torchwood work.”  


That stopped Owen for a moment, but then he shook his head and said with anguish, “I can't. Not right now. Can't you understand? You saw it. The Master was going to burn **me** , not Jack. Jack saved me, and I didn't deserve it.”  


As she watched Owen leaving, Gwen made her decision and, grabbing her bag from her desk, she followed him out. He was obviously in no state to be alone, so she would have to go with him.  


* * * *   


It was two hours before Tosh reached the end of Ianto's visit to the room. She noticed that, even in those circumstances, Jack did not reveal to Ianto the full extent of his deal with the Master. She zoomed through the time while they lay asleep together. She saw their mutual declaration of love, just before Ianto was taken out by the guards. Her heart broke for them both. As she stopped the DVD, Tosh suddenly realised how much time had passed, and Ianto had not returned with the coffee. Perhaps he had just not wanted to come back, while she watched the DVD.  


Tosh went back to the main part of the Hub, to look for Ianto, and coffee. There was no sign of either in the kitchen, so she stuck her head round the boardroom door, to see if he was with Gwen and Owen. No one was there.  


Joanne and Mark were in the medical bay, but they had not seen Ianto either. Checking the tourist office, Tosh was alarmed to find that someone, presumably Ianto, had left the door unlocked. She was starting to really worry now. Running back down into the Hub, she collected her bag and coat, and told Joanne and Mark that she had to go out for a while. Owen had told her that he had found Ianto drinking at a local pub, after he saw Jack's deal with the Master. She thought that, remembering his night with Jack, might have made him do the same again. So she set off to check Ianto's favourite pubs. She also called his mobile and his home, but neither Ianto, nor Ellie, answered.  


* * * *   


Although it was only early evening, Owen went to a night club that he knew well. It was open, but there were no other customers. He sat at a table, with Gwen across from him, and ordered three tequila slammers. When they arrived, he downed them in quick succession, and ordered three more.  


“Not joining me?” he asked Gwen.   


Gwen shook her head. “Why are you doing this?” she demanded. “You've seen things just as bad happen to Jack, and you've never reacted like this before. You were coping better than any of us.”  
  


Owen laughed sardonically. “Oh yes, I was coping, and you know why?” He waited a second for Gwen to reply, but she merely waited. “I coped because I didn't feel personally involved.”  


Gwen gasped in surprise. She knew that the doctor could appear insensitive, and uncaring, but would never have believed that he would be that detached, regarding a friend who had suffered and died for him.  


Even through his drunken haze, Owen saw her expression, “Don't get me wrong,” he slurred. “I cared, and it hurt to see Jack suffer like that, but all along I thought that he was doing it for you and Ianto. You two were always special to him. I thought I was just incidental.” He downed another drink. “But today, Jack offered himself to be burned to death instead of me. You saw it.” He looked at her helplessly, “That means I wasn't incidental, and all the times we've watched him die it was for all of us.”  


“Of course it was,” Gwen declared, “it was for you, me, Ianto and Tosh.”  


With the choice between dissolving into girly tears, or downing another drink, Owen chose the latter. He signalled the bartender for three more.  


* * * *   


Ianto got home on autopilot. His mind was filled with grief. By his actions when the Master was defeated, he had destroyed any hope of regaining the love that existed between himself and Jack. Before that, there could have been redemption. A few days ago, he had asked Owen if Jack would ever be able to forgive him. And now he remembered that he had, at least for the way Ianto had treated him before the Master's last day on the Valiant. Despite Ianto's treatment of him, Jack had forgiven him, and loved him. Even if it was under hellish circumstances, he and Jack had mutually declared their love for the first, and only time. When he thought of what their future could have been, of what he had destroyed, sobs welled up in him again.  


And what of Jack? What had he felt, as he was taken away by UNIT, with Ianto's rejection ringing in his ears. After everything he had endured for them, Ianto had broken his heart, and abandoned him, along with all his so called friends. As he thought of Jack's pain, Ianto raked his chest and arm. Nothing could ever make it up to him.  


Ianto felt as if he were falling into a black abyss. He stumbled to the kitchen, and grabbed one of the sharp knives. His sobs wracked his frame so much that he could barely hold it steady. Standing in the centre of the kitchen, he made a wild thrust into his arm. The pain sharpened his senses, and the blackness receded. Ripping off his shirt, he slashed at his arm again, then at his chest. He needed to feel the pain, to atone for what he did to Jack. He was still slashing when he heard loud knocking at his door. He ignored it, and swiped the knife across his left wrist. His gaze became fixated on the blood welling from the wound.  


Outside the door of Ianto's flat, Tosh was becoming frantic. “Ianto, are you in there?” she shouted. She pulled the alien lock pick from her bag, and set it going on Ianto's locks. It took less than a minute to unlock the door.  


Ianto didn't even look up when the door opened and Tosh ran in. She surveyed the scene in horror, then approached him slowly, her hand extended. “Give me the knife, Ianto,” she ordered.  


He did look up when she spoke. But he clearly wasn't fully focusing on her. The knife waved dangerously in her direction, and Tosh stepped back in alarm. “Ianto, please, can you just put the knife down?”  


“No,” he answered, “I need it. I need to feel what Jack felt.”  


Tosh was desperately scared that Ianto was about to kill himself, right in front of her. “Jack wouldn't want you to do this, Ianto. He did what he did to keep us all safe, most importantly to keep you safe. He loved you. You don't want to throw what he did back in his face, do you?”  


Ianto's anguish was heartbreaking. “I already did, Tosh. He loved me, and I stabbed him through the heart.”  


“But, if you kill yourself, everything that he did for you was a waste. He would have suffered for nothing!”  


Ianto visibly sagged as she said that, but did not let go of the knife.   


“He'll need you when we find him. He'll need all of us, but you most of all, because you know him better than any of us. You love him.” Seeing Ianto wavering, she added sternly. “You owe it to him to stop this.”  


Ianto dropped the knife and, slumping to the floor, he leaned on the kitchen wall and cried. “Not kill,” he managed to say through his sobs. “I wouldn't, I just needed to feel some of Jack's pain.”  


Tosh scooped up the knife, and placed it out of Ianto's reach. She grabbed her mobile, and called Owen. The phone rang and rang, but there was no response. Ianto may not have intended to kill himself, Tosh would reserve judgment on that, but he may have done it accidentally. Blood was flowing freely from dozens of wounds, the slash across his wrist looked particularly bad. While she waited for an answer, she yanked open Ianto's cupboards, and found several clean tea towels. She ran back to Ianto, and wrapped them around the most serious wounds, in an attempt to slow the bleeding. It wasn't working very well.  


Seriously panicking at the lack of response from Owen, Tosh called the Hub directly. If she got no response there, she would call an ambulance. To her utter relief, Joanne answered.  


“Joanne, thank god. I need you at Ianto's flat right now. Bring your medical gear. It's Ianto, he's got several knife wounds. I can't stop the bleeding. Bring Owen.”  


Receiving a hurried confirmation from Joanne, Tosh dropped the phone, and started to apply pressure to the makeshift bandage she had put on Ianto's wrist. As she knelt next to him, holding his wrist tight, she looked at the wounds that she had not bandaged. There were two obvious wounds, which were recent, but in the process of healing. They were long slashes, and the remains of a bandage, that Tosh had not applied, clung to part of one of the wounds. With shock, Tosh realised that this was not the first time that Ianto had deliberately injured himself. He must have been doing it since they found out about Jack's deal with the Master. How had they not noticed? He must have been in pain each day at work.  


Tosh gasped in alarm, as Ianto fell across her knees. He was only semi-conscious by this time. “Hold on, Ianto, Joanne is on her way. She'll be here soon, and will get you fixed up.” She prayed that, that was true. “Don't you dare die on me. Remember, Jack needs you. You can't abandon him.”  


Through the roaring in his ears, Ianto heard Tosh, and he agreed with her. He had to help Jack. If he did nothing else in his entire life, he had to do that. He was holding on to consciousness with all he had, when Joanne rushed into the flat.  


* * * *   


In an effort to shake Gwen off, Owen had left the night club, and gone to a lap dancing club. The bouncers on the door had refused to let her in, as Owen had said that she was a trouble maker.  


Inside, Owen ignored the girls, and just ordered drink after drink. He was determined to drown out the phrase that was still echoing through his head. “Burn, me!” His phone started beeping, but he ignored it.  


Left outside, Gwen decided to call in reinforcements. She called Mark at the Hub. Explaining the basic situation, she asked Mark to come and extract Owen from the club, and help her get him home. She also called Karen, and warned her that Owen would be coming home blind drunk and in a right state.  


When Mark got to the club, Gwen was waiting for him outside. Mark was not pleased at being called out for a drunk colleague, and having to leave Joanne alone at the Hub.  


Apologising profusely, but without explaining the real cause of Owen's meltdown, Gwen gave Mark the bare bones of the situation. It was obvious that there was a lot that she wasn't saying.  


“OK, I'll get him out, so we can take him home,” Mark agreed. “But you are going to have to give Joanne and me a proper explanation tomorrow. We can't go on with all this secrecy between us. We're supposed to be a team.”  


* * * *   


“Where's Owen?” asked Tosh, as she realised that Joanne was alone.   


“Our illustrious leader is blind drunk at a lap dancing club, I believe,” said Joanne scathingly, as she started to work on Ianto. He was now unconscious. She gasped as she saw the wounds, and realised that, far from what she had expected, they were self inflicted. “I can stabilise him,” she told Tosh, “but he needs to go to hospital. With this amount of blood loss, he should have a transfusion.”  
  


“He won't want to do that,” argued Tosh.   


“Well, he should have thought of that before he did this then, shouldn't he?” snapped Joanne. “What the hell was he thinking!” As she spoke, she continued to check Ianto's wounds. For the first time looking at the less serious ones, as Tosh had before her, she realised that some of the wounds were days old. “He's obviously been self harming over the last week,” she pointed out. “And I'm pretty sure that he never did this before, so don't tell me that it has nothing to do with this project you've all been working on.”  


Tosh couldn't deny it. She listened as Joanne called for an ambulance, and then, as they sat in silence next to Ianto, she made a decision. Time for Joanne to understand. And anyway, when they found Jack, she would need to know what had happened to him. “You're right, of course,” she admitted. “I know Owen told you that it is about our ex-boss Jack Harkness. Well, Jack and Ianto were lovers, and a few years ago we were all imprisoned by a sadistic megalomaniac. We were prisoners for nine months. He was a madman, and loved to play games with people's lives. He forced Jack to pretend to work for him, by threatening the rest of us. Jack went along with it, and we all believed that he had betrayed us. We treated him like dirt, especially Ianto. And, when this madman was defeated, Jack was tried and found guilty of murder and treason, amongst other things. He was locked up in a high security UNIT prison. We wiped him from our minds years ago.

Wiping away a tear that threatened to fall from the corner of her eye, she continued. “But then, new evidence turned up. This madman, he called himself the Master, had made recordings of what really happened between him and Jack. And it was worse than you could ever imagine. Jack was tortured, really brutally, and the Master offered to stop if he would agree for us to be tortured instead. He refused, so he suffered over seven months of horrendous torture in our place, all the while with us hating him and believing he was a traitor.”

Joanne was listening in shock. “My god, he must be an amazing man to do that. And it's hard to believe that anyone could survive torture over that extended a time.”

Tosh flinched at that statement. “He didn't.”

Joanne was understandably confused. “I thought you said he was put on trial, and imprisoned.”

“He was,” Tosh confirmed, then added, “You've been with Torchwood for quite a while now. You've seen a lot of unbelievable things. Well Jack is the most unbelievable thing. He's immortal.”

Now Joanne was really confused. “But you said he died!”

“That's just it,” Tosh explained sadly. “Jack can suffer and die, just like any of us. But then he comes back to life. And the Master knew this. He tortured him to death practically every day, and then Jack would resurrect without a mark on him.”

Joanne was stunned into silence by that. She believed it, because she had absolute trust in Tosh. But what that had meant for Jack Harkness, was too awful to comprehend. Ianto had obviously been unable to cope with knowing what had happened to his lover.  


At that moment the ambulance arrived, and Tosh and Joanne had to put their discussion on hold. They travelled in the ambulance with Ianto, and Joanne coordinated with the hospital to get him admitted to a private room. The emergency dressings, that they had applied, were redone. The less life-threatening injuries were also treated. He was given two pints of blood, and regained consciousness. Finally, Ianto was left to rest.  


As soon as Ianto was settled, Joanne headed back to work. Joanne had explained to Tosh, that Mark had been called out by Gwen earlier, and that she had been manning the Hub alone when Tosh called. Mark had phoned, to let her know that he was back in the Hub, but she needed to get back for the rest of her shift.  


As Tosh prepared to spend the night in the relatives room, waiting for Ianto to wake, she phoned Gwen. As they briefed each other on the evenings events, Tosh admitted that she had given Joanne a lot of information about Jack. They both agreed that they had reached the point where they had to bring Mark and Joanne fully into the loop. They would do that during their next shift.


	10. Chapter 10

When Ianto woke, Tosh was sitting in the chair next to his bed. She was stiff and aching after spending the night in the relatives room.

"Hi," she said gently.

"Tosh," replied Ianto, then his face crumpled. "I'm so sorry Tosh, I never meant for this to happen."

"I believe you, Ianto. At least, I believe that you didn't mean to kill yourself," she qualified." But how long have you been cutting yourself?"

"Not long. A few days. Since we saw Jack's deal with the Master," Ianto admitted.

"And when you remembered visiting Jack, it made things even worse," Tosh surmised.

"Oh yes. I didn't just remember the facts. I remembered what I felt. He forgave me, Tosh. He forgave me for the way I treated him all those months. He loved me, and I loved him. We could have had a future."

"You still could. He forgave you once, he might do it again."

"Would you forgive someone who abandoned you to a mob, who made it clear they hated you and had nothing but contempt for you? And, worse than that, I told him he never meant anything to me before all this. It wasn't true, but he believed it. You could tell." Ianto paused to look at Tosh, who was avoiding his gaze.

"No, you wouldn't," he deduced. "And neither would I. So any future that we might have had together is gone." He turned away from her, and added in an agonised whisper. "And that breaks my heart."

"Don't give up, Ianto," Tosh encouraged. "We'll find Jack, and get him pardoned. Then, in the future, who knows what may happen."

"The important thing is to sort things out for Jack," Ianto agreed fervently. "What I want doesn't matter. I know that I've lost any rights I ever had to his affection."

Privately, Tosh thought that Ianto was probably right. And, in fact, they had all lost any right to Jack's affection. But she did not say so.

Looking for a way to lighten Ianto's mood, Tosh asked the question that had been at the back of her mind all night. "Ianto, where's Ellie? We should contact her, and let her know where you are."

"Ellie moved out."

"So much for lightening the mood," thought Tosh wryly.

"Oh, Ianto, when? And why?"

"It was the night I got really drunk, after I saw Jack's deal. I was awful to Ellie, and threw her out. She's moved back into her own flat, to give me some space while we get this business sorted."

"So you haven't actually split up for good then?"

"Not officially, but I'm going to end it."

"But why? You and Ellie were great together, she's a wonderful girl."

"We were OK together, not great," Ianto corrected. "I never felt for her, even a fraction of what I felt for Jack." He knew he was sounding very harsh, but wanted to be absolutely honest. "And now my feelings for Jack have come back stronger than ever. Even though I know that relationship is over, it wouldn't be fair to Ellie, to be with her while loving someone else."

"Don't do anything until you've had time to recover, Ianto," Tosh advised. "Make sure it's what you really want, before you break it off with her."

Ianto wryly indicated the state he was in, and all the medical equipment. "It'll be a few days yet, I guess."

"I have to get to work now," Tosh explained as she gathered her things. "I'll come back and see you later today, OK." Hugging Ianto goodbye, she set off for the Hub.

b_b_b_b_b

When Owen woke, he had the hangover from hell. And he had no clue how he had got home. He was in bed, alone. Trying to sit up, he groaned, as his head threatened to explode. He also felt hellishly sick. He collapsed down on the bed again, in defeat. As he lay there, the events of the previous day flooded back to him.

"Oh God," Owen murmured to himself. "Why did he do that? He should have let me die."

At that moment Karen came into the room. "Back in the land of the living are we?" she asked sarcastically. "Are you going to explain to me what the hell you were playing at last night? You were practically unconscious when Gwen and Mark brought you home."

Owen looked at her with such bleakness in his eyes that all her anger evaporated. She sat on the bed next to him and put her arms around him. "What is it, Owen? You can tell me."

Owen hugged her back. "Last week I told you about some new evidence that was found, regarding someone I used to work with. Do you remember? The man I hated."

Karen nodded. "The case you've been working double shifts on, ever since?"

"Yeah. Well, we were completely wrong about him. Ever since we found the evidence, it's been clear that he was acting under duress. And we found out that he had been forced to cooperate with a psychopath, to save the lives of the team. He did some terrible things." Owen shook his head. in sorrow. "And last night I found out that the worst crimes he committed, and they were bad believe me, he did to save my life. The very things that made me hate him the most, he did to save my worthless hide. And he suffered for us, for me ..." he trailed off, on the verge of tears.

Karen could feel Owen shaking in her arms. She hugged him harder, pulling him close. After several minutes, he began to calm. "Is there anything you can do to help him now?" she asked.

"Yes, and we're damn well going to do it," Owen replied. "We're going to get him pardoned and back here, where he belongs."

b_b_b_b_b

When Tosh arrived in the Hub, Gwen, Mark and Joanne were already there. They were sitting in the boardroom drinking coffee (instant).

"We've been waiting for you," said Gwen, fetching a cup for Tosh. "How's Ianto?"

"He's doing OK," Tosh replied. "He's still really upset over Jack, but physically he'll be fine in a few days. I just hope that he won't hurt himself again."

"We'll have to keep a close eye on him when he gets out of hospital," Gwen pointed out.

"Definitely," agreed Joanne.

"And where's Owen?" asked Tosh.

"He was drunk as a skunk when we got him home last night," Mark explained."I doubt we'll be seeing him anytime soon."

"Then I guess it's up to me and Gwen to brief you two about Jack," Tosh declared, looking at Gwen for agreement.

Gwen nodded and indicated for Tosh to continue.

"Mark, I know that Owen explained some of what was going on with Jack to you, but there was one vital piece of information that he didn't tell you. I told Joanne about it last night, so I'd better bring you up to speed as well." Tosh then explained about the Master, and Jack's immortality, and what this had led to on the Valiant. She finished by explaining about the paradox being reversed, resulting in the nine months of the Master's reign being wiped from history. That information was new to Joanne as well as Mark.

When Tosh finished, Mark was looking at her in shocked disbelief. "So, your ex-boss was killed and resurrected over and over, during a period of nine months, which never actually happened? Are you sure that you haven't all been influenced, by some outside force, to believe this? Quite frankly, the whole thing sounds ludicrous."

Tosh sighed, and looked at Gwen for assistance.

"It did happen," Gwen insisted. "We all lived it. The nine months were reversed, except for the people actually on the Valiant when it ended. Me, Tosh, Ianto and Owen. Plus Jack of course, and quite a few military personnel."

Mark was not convinced. "Even if I believed that, no one can actually die and come back to life."

"Oh believe me, Jack can," Tosh assured him. "We've seen it with our own eyes."

Gwen nodded her agreement. "We knew about it before the Master took over the Earth, and we have endless DVD coverage of it from the Valiant," she added shuddering.

"Show us one," Mark said suddenly.

"What!" exclaimed Tosh and Gwen simultaneously. "We can't do that." Tosh exclaimed. "It's bad enough that we've watched it. Jack would hate us showing it to complete strangers."

But Gwen thought for a moment, and then pointed out, "Tosh, we're going to be using the DVDs in Jack's defence. There are going to be lawyers seeing it, probably the Queen, and god knows who else. So I don't see that it could hurt for Mark and Joanne to see one. Why don't we pick one of the less traumatic scenes, where Jack dies quickly?"

Seeing that Mark wasn't going to be convinced, without witnessing Jack resurrect, Tosh reluctantly nodded. She went to consult her notes and found one of the quickest, simplest, death scenes. She chose one of the very early ones, where the Master simply shot Jack in the head without preamble.

Joanne and Mark watched in incredulity, as the fatal wound healed and Jack came back to life with a gasp.

"And that happens no matter what he's killed by ?" Mark queried.

"Yes, so you can imagine what a psychopath like the Master did," answered Gwen.

Mark could.

b_b_b_b_b

With Mark and Joanne's agreement, Gwen and Tosh spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon, watching the remaining DVDs. Finally they were finished. They were now ready to compile the case for Jack's defence. That would be Gwen's job, when Owen showed up to do his Torchwood duties, as promised. Tosh would return to searching for Jack, when Ianto was released from hospital and could return to work.

b_b_b_b_b

Owen finally turned up for work after 4pm, looking sheepish, but determined.

Since seeing the DVD of Jack allowing himself to be raped to protect Ianto and Gwen, Owen had undergone a change in attitude. From that time he was no longer trying to be impartial, but he actually believed that they should help Jack, no matter what he had done later on. But now that he had seen Jack burn for him, his determination to help Jack knew no bounds.

As leader of Torchwood it was his responsibility to see this process through, and getting blind drunk was not going to do that. Vowing not to let his behaviour degenerate to that of the previous day, again, no matter what the provocation, he got down to work.

b_b_b_b_b

Two days later Ianto was released from hospital. It had required Owen to use his medical, and Torchwood, influence, to get him released, as the hospital doctors wanted to send Ianto to a psych unit for treatment. Only by Owen agreeing to take personal responsibility for Ianto, had he been allowed to leave.

After going home to change into a clean set of clothes, Ianto headed off to see Ellie. He had thought seriously about their relationship while he had been stuck in hospital, and had remained convinced that it was better for Ellie to break things off cleanly. He hoped that he could do so without hurting her too badly, as he did love her. Just not enough.

b_b_b_b_b

With Ianto's return, the team was back up to a full complement. Gwen and Tosh were then able to devote their time fully to Jack's case.

Tosh headed down to London, to check if Tish Jones remembered her time on the Valiant. She knew it was a forlorn hope, Tish's name was on a list of people evacuated from the Valiant before time reset. There was an annotation near her name that simply stated, 'forced', but Tosh had not been able to track down anyone who knew what exactly that meant. All the witnesses had themselves been evacuated, and therefore did not remember the event.

Tosh had found out that Tish now worked as a P.A. at a law firm, so she staked out the office. When Tish emerged and headed off for lunch, Tosh followed her. In the cafe, she stumbled against Tish, spilling her coffee. Apologising profusely, Tosh bought Tish a replacement coffee, and the two girls sat down together to have their lunch. Tosh chatted away about her fiancee and upcoming wedding, and Tish listened politely, looking with interest at the handsome man in the photograph that Tosh showed her. There was not a flicker of recognition as she looked at Jack's photo, or at Tosh. Her memories had indeed been erased.

b_b_b_b_b

Gwen took the notes that the team had compiled while watching the DVDs, and organised the case for Jack. She copied the important scenes from the DVDs, documenting the exact circumstances they related to.

She also continued to research into crimes committed under duress. To her amazement, she found that the fact that Jack had committed his most heinous crimes to save the team, rather than to save himself, actually weakened his case. They could argue legitimately that the law, as commonly applied, did not apply to a man who could be tortured and killed endlessly. But, as the law stood, Jack should have let them die, and they had no grounds to argue that he should not have

Reflecting that it was a good thing that the Queen had absolute authority over the granting of a pardon, so that she would not have to hand the case over to a cadre of legal experts, Gwen hoped that, as a compassionate individual, the Queen would understand the impossible position that Jack had been put in. No one could be expected not to buckle under the extreme level of duress that Jack had been subjected to.

b_b_b_b_b

After she returned from London, Tosh enhanced her search program. She programmed the 'worm' to check any computer it accessed, looking for particular references that could apply to Jack. She also programmed it to hijack memory sticks, and other portable media, so that computers which were not connected to the internet could be checked. It would be a long, slow process, but it was all she had.

b_b_b_b_b

The team had put aside their demons in order to help Jack. In particular, under the watchful eye of his teammates, Ianto had made no further attempts to harm himself. Owen had thrown himself into work, both Torchwood work, and assisting the efforts on Jack's behalf.

After two weeks working double shifts, Gwen had compiled their evidence, and made the case for Jack's moral innocence. The others had checked it for omissions, and had made any improvements that they could. They were ready. Now they needed to get the evidence to the Queen. As Torchwood was officially answerable to the Queen, they had not anticipated having any difficulty in getting to see her.

Maybe Jack had had a direct way to contact the Monarch, when he was leader of Torchwood, but that information had been lost when he left. Owen had been to the Palace twice since he had become leader of Torchwood, but both times had been at the invitation of the Queen. Their various attempts to arrange a meeting had been met with polite offers of an appointment in six months time, outright refusals, and suggestions that they go through proper channels. They needed help.

Exasperated when her latest attempt to talk to the Queen was rebuffed, Gwen was sounding off to the rest of the team. "She's supposed to be in overall charge of Torchwood, how can she refuse to talk to us!"

"Calm down, Gwen," said Ianto, "The Queen won't know anything about your call. It's the Palace civil servants who are blocking us. What we need is someone who knows how to bypass them."

"Who do we know who's high enough up to help?" asked Owen.

"Well," Tosh answered reluctantly, "there's Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart. He's retired now, but he helped Jack get me out of UNIT. And he's a good man, old UNIT, rather than the new breed of bullies they have nowadays."

"He's still UNIT," argued Owen. "He's hardly likely to help us get a convicted torturer pardoned. And the last thing we want is for UNIT to find out what we are planning. The guy who gave us the DVDs said that they were suppressing the evidence. They might well try and sabotage us in some way. We can't afford to draw their attention."

"What about Harriet Jones?" interjected Ianto. "I know, from the files, that she had dealings with Torchwood, and Jack, when she was Prime Minister. She would have had access to the Queen back then, and maybe she would still be able to get to see her."

"That's a great idea," agreed Gwen with excitement. "Ianto, track her down and get in touch with her. We need to arrange to meet her, and show her the evidence. She probably doesn't remember the Master and Toclafane, so we'll have to explain all that to her too. Hopefully she'll believe us."

b_b_b_b_b

Two days later, the team drove to Yorkshire to see Harriet Jones. Yet again, they had left Joanne and Mark manning the Hub, as none of them were willing to stay behind.

The SUV pulled up outside a modest house in a small village in Swaledale. "She's certainly left the trappings of power behind," commented Ianto.

"Wouldn't you, if you were ousted the way she was?" said Tosh.

Harriet welcomed them into her home, and listened gravely to their story. She flinched a few times as they described the more more graphic details of what had happened to the Earth, and the human population, during the nine months that never was.

"Congratulations Doctor," she muttered sarcastically under her breath, "ousting me was a master stroke. No pun intended."

Then they explained what had happened to Jack.

Harriet went pale as she listened to their description of what Jack had undergone, and why.

And, when they explained what had happened to him afterwards, she could not contain her anger.

"How could you have allowed UNIT to lock Jack up?" she exploded. "Do you know nothing! You must know what UNIT is like, and that Jack would never get a fair trial. They probably couldn't believe their luck at getting their hands on him."

Tosh cringed at this, her guilt coming bubbling to the surface once again. Of all of them, she was the only one who had known what UNIT prisons were like. "I, I tried to get him assigned to us," she stuttered. "But no one would go along with it."

Owen stepped in at this point. "We know that we screwed up, in so many ways," he admitted. "What we are trying to do now, is make things right. We are doing everything we can to get Jack exonerated, and find him, so he can live his life without fear of UNIT or anyone else. Will you help us?"

Harriet forced herself to calm down. The Torchwood team were obviously oblivious to the tensions that had always been present between Jack and UNIT. They had not realised the implications of handing him over to them. "Jack is a remarkable man, in many ways," she stated with a blush. "I'll do all I can to help him."

Tosh had seen the blush. "Were you and Jack …?" she trailed off.

"Yes," said Harriet unashamedly. "We were both unattached and lonely. And he is gorgeous. Who could resist."

"Indeed," murmured Ianto.

"Leave your tapes with me," suggested Harriet, "so I can review the evidence, and get to grips with the case for putting before the Queen. If it's as compelling as you said, I think we can move on it straight away. I still know the channels to get directly in touch with her, and I'm sure she'll agree to meet me."

"It isn't easy to watch," Ianto warned her, "particularly as you and Jack were good friends."

Harriet nodded her understanding.

As the team got back into the SUV, Owen whistled. "So, Jack and the Prime Minister, eh? The old dog. I wonder how many other PMs he's had."

"You mean, apart from Saxon," Ianto said angrily, remembering the vicious rapes that the Master had perpetrated on Jack.

Owen blanched, "Sorry, I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean him, you know that!"

"It's OK Owen, we know what you meant. You were just remembering the old Jack from before the Valiant," interjected Tosh, cutting off any possibility of an argument.. "Hopefully he'll be back with us soon."

b_b_b_b_b

Hours later Harriet finished watching the tapes. Tears were streaming down her face. She spoke aloud. "Oh Jack, you should have taken the deal. How could you cope with that?"

Anger suffused her features then. Those Torchwood idiots, they didn't deserve Jack. How could they have allowed this to happen. But at least they were trying to make amends now. Seething, she went to bed, determined to contact the Palace first thing in the morning, and arrange a meeting with the Queen. The sooner they got Jack exonerated the better.


	11. Chapter 11

The appointment with the Queen was scheduled for three days time. Harriet had obviously pulled out all the stops in using her influence with the Palace. The day before, Owen and Gwen set off for London to meet Harriet, for a discussion of their strategy before the meeting.

There had been a heated discussion of who would go to the meeting. Harriet was adamant that only two of them could attend. The Queen would not appreciate feeling overwhelmed in a meeting. As the head of Torchwood, Owen had to go. Ianto had argued strongly that he should be the second member of the team to go, but, since Gwen had compiled the case, and knew it better than any of the others, Owen insisted that she be the second person. In truth, Owen did not want Ianto to go, as he was worried that he would become too emotional and disrupt the meeting. It would be difficult for any of them to remain unemotional, himself included.

They met Harriet at the hotel they would all stay in overnight She had brought all the recordings and files that the team had left with her in Yorkshire. She did not look happy when they arrived.

Pinning them with a furious glare, Harriet declared "Let me just say this. I cannot believe that you allowed a man like Jack to be treated this way. You knew he was a good man, at least I hope you did! How could you not trust him? Did you even give him a chance to explain what had happened?"

Owen and Gwen cringed with guilt at that. "We were completely fooled," Owen began. "Jack had us all completely convinced that he was working for the Master. He tortured and killed rebels, and he never gave us any hint that he was being tortured, or that he was doing it for us."

"Well, he couldn't, could he?" said Harriet scathingly. "What he did for you, was unbelievable, And all I can wish is that he hadn't." Forcing her anger down for Jack's sake, she took a deep breath. "But," Harriet continued, "we can't dwell on that. We need to get our act together for tomorrow's meeting. So let's work our way through the case, and sort out how we're going to present it to Her Majesty."

Settling down round a table, they spread the documents out, and started to work through them.

b_b_b_b_b

Jack was working as usual, out of Paddy's Goose. The client he had just picked up only wanted a quickie, so they went into the bathroom of the pub. When they got there, there were three other men in the bathroom. One was the client that had tried to tie Jack up, months before. He had been thrown out by Ray's security.

Jack recognised him instantly, and tried to back out of the bathroom, apologising to his current client, who had followed him inside. To his surprise, the man grabbed him by the arms from behind, and shoved him forwards into the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind him.

It soon became clear that all four men were together. They surrounded Jack, three of them holding him, as the man he knew from before, Rick, snarled at him. "It's been a while, but I hope you remember me. I've recently found a few friends who think, like I do, that uppity whores should get what's coming to them. I don't take kindly to a slut like you refusing to lay back and take whatever the paying customer wants, so me and my friends have come to teach you a lesson." With that he punched Jack in the face, and ordered the other men to strip him.

This entire situation was entirely too reminiscent of the Master on the Valiant. Jack started to panic in earnest. The adrenaline gave him the strength to throw them off, and, with no hostages to his compliance, he was free to fight. And fight he did.

The sound of the melee reached the customers in the main bar, where Ray was sitting. He jumped up, and, with his henchmen, ran towards the bathroom. He wrenched open the door to see Jack, bruised and bloody, facing off against two men. Two others lay in a heap on the floor. As they entered, Jack took his eye off the men for a second. It was a bad mistake. Rick drew a knife, and stabbed him in the stomach with it, before fleeing the scene with his friend. They abandoned the other two.

Jack slowly slumped to the floor, clutching his stomach.

"Get the car, we need to get him to hospital," Ray shouted. He didn't want to call an ambulance, and draw the attention of the authorities to his activities at Paddy's Goose.

"No, don't. Just take me home," said Jack weakly.

"No way! I'm not having you die on me," argued Ray.

Jack didn't have the strength to argue, though hospital was the last place he wanted to end up.

By the time the car reached the hospital, he was barely conscious, and blood was pooled around him. Parking illegally, in an ambulance bay right outside A&E, Ray helped him out of the car and, shouting for help, took him inside. Doctors rushed up to help, and took charge of Jack. As they worked frantically, Ray melted away.

The doctors rushed Jack into a cubicle, asking him his name and what happened. "It was a client," was his weak response, before losing consciousness. He died minutes later, before they could get him into theatre.

b_b_b_b_b

At the Palace, Gwen, Owen and Harriet were ushered down a long corridor to the Queen's office. Gwen gawked unashamedly at the wealth on display. Gold leaf ornaments on exquisite furniture lined the corridor, genuine Rembrandts and Constables vied for space with other Old Masters on the walls. Her feet sank into the deep pile carpet on every step. To Harriet and Owen, who had been before, it was not so overwhelming.

Their escort opened a pair of double doors at the end of the corridor, and they entered a large room, where the Queen sat behind her desk. She rose as they entered.

"Good morning Harriet, it's good to see you again."

Harriet bowed her head politely, answering "And you Ma'am."

Looking at the other visitors, the Queen acknowledged Owen politely, " Doctor Harper," and waited for an introduction to Gwen.

Harriet leaped in, "Ma'am, may I introduce Gwen Cooper from Torchwood 3. She has been compiling the case for pardoning Jack Harkness."

The Queen smiled at Gwen, who looked extremely flustered, and stammered, "A pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty."

The Queen looked amused. "Dr Harper has told me about your good work with Torchwood, Miss Cooper. You should be very proud."

Gwen blushed. "Thank you Ma'am."

"May I introduce Sir Richard Featherstone," the Queen continued. "He is my most senior legal advisor, and will sit in on this discussion." She looked over to Harriet then and asked, "Tea for everyone, do you think?"

Harriet agreed, and the Queen rang a bell. A butler appeared at the door and she ordered tea for five.

While they waited for the tea to arrive, they all sat down around the central table. The Queen started the ball rolling. "I was shocked at what you told me on the phone, Harriet. As far as I was aware, Jack Harkness had resigned as leader of Torchwood 3, to go travelling with the Doctor."

"That's not true." Gwen interjected, "He did go travelling with the Doctor for awhile, but that's not why he is no longer leader. And it definitely wasn't his own choice."

"So I understand from Harriet," confirmed the Queen. "I thought it was odd that Captain Harkness resigned without speaking to me. I have known him for over 60 years. A charming man," she added with a fond smile, "and a unique one. I was very sorry when he resigned."

Owen's jaw practically dropped. "Ye gods," he thought. "He didn't!" He shook himself. "No. No way. Not even Jack would seduce the Queen, or Princess Elizabeth, as she was back then. Would he?".

The tea arrived and, when they had all been served with a cup, the Queen became businesslike. "Right, to business. Explain why you are here, and what you want me to do."

Harriet, Gwen and Owen then gave their prepared presentation. They outlined the events of the nine months that never was, the Master's reign over the Earth, and what had gone on on the Valiant. This information was completely new to the Queen, and she was shocked and angry that it had been kept from her.

As the Queen was aware of Jack's immortality, they did not have to explain that part of the story, and she quickly grasped the true horror of Jack's situation on the Valiant. After about an hour, they reached the end of the story, and explained that Jack had been tried and imprisoned in a UNIT facility, from which he had subsequently escaped. They then handed over their recordings, for the Queen, and her legal adviser, to view later.

They were then subjected to a barrage of questions from Sir Richard, with a few thrown in by the Queen herself.

They answered to the best of their ability. Finally, as the questions wound down, Owen summarised the basic premise of their case. "So, although duress is not usually a defence against murder and treason, in Captain Harkness's case his unique circumstances meant that he could be subject to an extraordinary level of duress, that no other person would ever have to endure. We feel that, although he did commit the crimes he was accused of, the level of duress involved was such that no one would have been able to resist, and that he is morally innocent of the crimes. We therefore ask for a pardon to be granted under the royal prerogative of mercy."

The Queen picked up one of the recordings and stated, "Sir Richard and I will have to review your video evidence, and speak to the General who dealt with the Valiant when time reset. General Ingham did you say?"

"Yes Ma'am," Gwen confirmed. "He organised the cleanup, and handed over custody of the people accused of serious crimes, to UNIT."

As the meeting wrapped up, Sir Richard put one final question to them. "Do you know where Jack Harkness is now?"

"No," Gwen answered sadly. "We have been trying to find him, but have failed so far."

"That's just as well," commented Sir Richard. "If you did know, then you would be guilty of aiding and abetting a convicted murderer and traitor."

And, if they had found Jack, UNIT wouldn't have been far behind, mused Owen. On the whole, it was just as well that they hadn't found him yet.

After Harriet, Gwen and Owen had been escorted out, the Queen addressed Sir Richard.

"Richard, have General Ingham summoned here tomorrow, and Colonel Oduya for the following morning. I want to know what happened after the Master was overthrown. And, why the head of an Institute that answers only to me, can be removed from that position, and imprisoned, without my knowledge. And make sure that Oduya brings the transcript of Jack Harkness's trial. I want to read it."

b_b_b_b_b

When Jack woke, he was lying naked on a table in the morgue. Fortunately, he had woken before any of the standard procedures had been carried out, and he was alone. Sitting up and getting quietly off the table, he searched the lockers lining one wall. In one were a set of surgical scrubs, which he dressed in quickly. He then left the morgue, and set off to find a staff room, or some place that he could swap the scrubs for clothes he could wear to leave the hospital.

An hour later, dressed in ill fitting jeans and T-shirt, Jack sat on a bench in a park a short walk from the hospital. He was in a full scale panic. He wasn't concerned about having died. The wound he had received was trivial. It killed him, but was no worse than what he did himself, to cure his track marks. The problem was that people had seen him mortally wounded, and several had seen him die. That was dangerous. Plus, the hospital had lost a body, and, if that became public, then it could bring UNIT down on him.

Jack knew that what he should do was get as far from Manchester as he could, very quickly. But then he would lose his access to heroin. He had barely any money. It would be practically impossible to find another source, and strike a bargain to obtain it, in time for his next fix. His last fix was the previous day, so he could hold out another few days, but that was all.

Leaping up from the bench, he began to pace around the park, his thought whirling. He just couldn't abandon his steady supply of heroin. The very idea terrified him. Maybe he could lie low for a day or so, and see if the hospital made any announcements about a missing body. If they didn't, then it should be safe to go home. It was extremely unlikely that any of the hospital staff who had seen him die, would frequent the places where Jack lived and worked. And he could tell Ray, and the others, that the wound looked bad, but had missed any vital organs, so he was recovering.

Having made his decision, Jack headed for the opposite side of Manchester from where he lived. He found a cheap room to rent for three nights, and stole the money to pay for it from an inattentive woman at a supermarket. He scoured the local newspapers for any mention of the hospital. He also went to an internet cafe, and searched the internet for any online reports from the hospital that could relate to him. He found nothing. Jack was an expert at searching for information, and he reasoned that if he couldn't find anything, then neither could UNIT. He would have liked to spend a lot longer lying low, but the need for heroin was burning into his brain by the third day. Horrific memories were replaying in his mind, even when he was awake. He couldn't stay away any longer.

Jack returned to his flat three days after he had been stabbed. He wore a bandage around his stomach, that he had placed there himself, to hide that fact that he wasn't injured. He told Ray that it hadn't been nearly as bad as it looked, and that he'd be able to work again after several days rest. Ray was overjoyed to have one of his best earners back, and gave Jack a fistful of money, and several grammes of heroin, to tide him over.

b_b_b_b_b

One Week Later

Gwen bounced into the central part of the Hub, grinning with excitement. She was followed by Owen. "We did it! Owen just got a phone call from the Palace. Jack's been pardoned, and UNIT have been informed that he is officially released, and ordered to stop looking for him. They are going to release all Jack's assets immediately."

"Oh, thank god," whispered Ianto, dropping into a chair in relief. He put his face in his hands, and tried to prevent himself from bursting into tears. At least there was one thing in this sorry mess that had finally gone right.

Joanne smiled with happiness and hugged Gwen. "Well done."

"Now we just need to find Jack, and tell him," Gwen continued. They all looked at Tosh.

"I'm doing my best," she responded defensively. "Jack has done a great disappearing job. If he hadn't, UNIT would have found him long before now."

"Why don't we put a full page advert for him in the paper?" suggested Gwen. "Something along the lines of, Jack Harkness, you have been exonerated. Come back to Cardiff."

Ianto shook his head, "He'd just think it was a trick by UNIT, to draw him out so they could recapture him."

"We could include something in the advert that only we would know," Gwen pointed out.

This time Tosh demurred, "Ianto's right, he'd never believe it. And if we did that, Jack would just believe that we were trying to help UNIT to capture him. He doesn't have any reason to think that we wouldn't do that," she added sadly. "No, we'll just have to be patient, and hope that one of the search programs I have running eventually comes up with something."

 


	12. Chapter 12

In a seedy pub, in a rundown part of London, two men met to work out a plan for damage limitation. Colonel Oduya carried two pints of bitter to a booth at the back of the noisy pub. Major Stamford sat in the booth looking grim. Both were in civvies.

"So," demanded the Major, while keeping his voice at a level that would not be heard by any of the other pub goers. "What has got you so agitated, that you dragged me out here in such a cloak and dagger way?"

Oduya handed the Major his pint, and sat down. "Did you know that Torchwood got hold of the DVDs from the Valiant, and went to the Queen to ask for a pardon for Jack Harkness?"

"Hell, no! Who gave them access to those?" exclaimed Stamford.

"If I ever find out, they'll wish they'd never been born," Oduya replied grimly. "I was called in by Her Majesty a few days ago, and required to hand over all the documents relating to the Harkness trial. She was very angry that he had been put on trial without her knowledge. And you can guess how she reacted when she discovered that he had not even been present at the trial, to speak for himself. We are now under a new set of rules for reporting our activities to the Palace. And the only thing that saved UNIT from severe repercussions, was that no one is saying that Harkness did not commit the crimes that he was convicted of."

Stamford was horrified. "Does she know the rest?"

"Fortunately not," Oduya replied morosely. "But she has issued a pardon for him, and, if anyone from Torchwood finds him, it's bound to come out."

"Well, UNIT have failed to find him for well over a year now. Torchwood won't do any better I'm sure," Stamford pointed out.

Oduya snorted. "It just takes one mistake by Harkness, and someone will find him. It had better be us, unless you and I want to find ourselves under indictment for abuse of prisoners." He leaned across the table towards Stamford. "Harkness was a friend of the Queen, not only her employee. And we tortured him for information on an institution of which she is head. If she finds out what we did, UNIT will be finished in the UK."

"What are we going to do about it, then?" asked Major Stamford.

"We need to get to him, if not first, at least before he gets a chance to tell Torchwood anything." Oduya suggested. "We need to watch Torchwood, and snatch Harkness from them if they find him."

"And how are we going to get men willing to do that?" asked Stamford. "Harkness's pardon will be known throughout UNIT within days. All our personnel will know that this would be an illegal operation."

"Since when has that ever stopped them?" scoffed Oduya. "They were willing to torture him, after all."

"Even so, if we let this get out there is a good chance someone would report it," Stamford mused. "Probably the same person who passed those DVDs to Torchwood."

"Indeed," agreed Oduya, "But I have the solution. I know just the group of men to assign to this."

Stamford looked intrigued.

"After we got all the information from Harkness, and you went back to your regular assignment," Oduya explained, "Harkness would do anything for a fix. And I do mean anything. A group of about a dozen men took advantage of what he was offering, on a regular basis."

"Ah," murmured Stamford, in understanding. "And I'm sure that none of these lads would want that to come to light."

"Definitely not,"agreed Oduya. "When we explain the situation, I'm sure they will all volunteer for our special assignment."

"But if you do manage to apprehend him, what then?" asked Stamford. "You can't kill him."

"No, but a pair of concrete boots, and a one way trip a hundred miles out to sea, should take care of him for a very long time," smiled Oduya.

b_b_b_b_b_b

**Two months later**

An aura of despair had settled in the Torchwood Hub. In the two months since Jack had been pardoned, there had been no hint of his whereabouts. Euphoria, that Jack had been pardoned, had gradually given way to depression. Ianto was taking their failure particularly hard, and was endlessly coming up with wild schemes that had no chance of success.

On this occasion, he bounded into Owen's office. "I've got it," he cried. "This will actually work, I'm sure."

Owen, who had heard too many of Ianto's ideas to get excited about yet another one, looked up wearily. "OK, Ianto, what's your idea this time?"

"Remember we considered putting out an advert for Jack in the papers," Ianto said, "but we knew that Jack wouldn't trust it. Well, I don't know why we never thought of it before, but there is one person that Jack would believe."

"Who?"

"The Queen," Ianto stated excitedly.

Owen nearly spilled his coffee in surprise. "The Queen!"

"Yes! If she did a national TV broadcast, announcing that Jack has been pardoned and should come out of hiding, he might just believe it."

Owen was flabbergasted, but did seriously think about Ianto's suggestion. He smiled. "You know, that just might work. But do you think that she would do it?"

"We could at least ask," Ianto responded.

As he spoke, they were interrupted by Tosh running into Owen's office. "I found something," she exclaimed. "In Manchester Royal Infirmary, there is an internal report of an unidentified patient who died, and they lost the body. There's no photo or description, but that could be Jack. The incident happened weeks ago, but their computer is not connected to the internet, so it's taken this long for my worm program to find it, and transmit back."

By mutual, unspoken, consent Owen and Ianto put their thoughts about asking the Queen for help on hold.

"Right," stated Owen. "Ianto, you and Tosh go to Manchester, and interview the people at the hospital. They must have some information about the patient. And they might recognise a photo of Jack. Follow up any leads you get. But keep me informed, OK?"

"Pack some things, Ianto," suggested Tosh, "we could be up there for a few days."

b_b_b_b_b_b

As Ianto and Tosh headed out of the Hub, and set off for the train station, they were watched from a window in a block of flats overlooking the Plas. Two UNIT soldiers manned the surveillance at any one time, two others were stationed at ground level adjacent to the Plas.. None wore uniform. This was not an authorised mission. Initially, Oduya had assigned six men at a time to the surveillance, with orders to follow the Torchwood members. But this had proved to be impossible, without risk of detection. Oduya had reluctantly downgraded the surveillance to the Hub alone. If Harkness was spotted, his men had orders to swoop in and take him, with Torchwood casualties an acceptable consequence.

Since they could not keep watch on every entrance to the Hub from their flat, hidden cameras had been installed in the underground garage, where Torchwood parked their SUV, and overlooking the tourist office. These fed live images to the monitors in the flat.

After weeks of no sightings, the men were becoming bored and jaded. They barely reacted when Ianto and Tosh emerged from the Hub, making a desultory note in the log, then lapsing back into inactivity.

b_b_b_b_b_b

In Manchester, Ianto and Tosh had tracked down the doctors and nurse who had been present when the missing patient died. They had been allowed to ask them questions, after showing their Torchwood IDs. All three agreed that the man who died was the one in the photo that Tosh showed them. Tosh and Ianto were over the moon to hear that. At last they were close to finding Jack.

"Did he say anything?" asked Ianto hopefully. "Anything that would give us a clue who he was or where he lived?"

The nurse remembered. "He came in with a stab wound to the stomach. He was barely conscious, but he did say that it was a client that did it. And the way he was dressed," the nurse hesitated, "he was older than most, but he was a prostitute, I'm sure of it."

Tosh and Ianto were both stunned, but hid their shock and thanked the woman. In turmoil, they headed for their hire car.

"Why would he do that?" Ianto asked Tosh, in horrified disbelief.

"I think that's pretty obvious," Tosh retorted, all her fears for Jack, when she found out he was destitute, coming back to her. "He escaped from UNIT, and had no money, no friends to ask for help, and couldn't get a regular job in case UNIT found him. He probably didn't have a choice."

"But, after what the Master did, how could he …, " Ianto trailed off, his face grey.

"It's not the same," Tosh told him. "I looked into the after-effects of rape once, for a friend. It varies, depending on the person, but for some victims it's all about control. Rape takes away your control, but that doesn't mean that consensual sex is no longer acceptable. And Jack was always very laid back about sex."

"But, to sell himself for money," Ianto reiterated, still in a state of shock.

"Jack's the type of person who wouldn't consider that an unacceptable thing to do," Tosh pointed out. "He doesn't have the hang ups that we do. Or at least he didn't, before the Valiant."

"I guess you're right," agreed Ianto reluctantly.

"So," Tosh continued positively, "where's the gay red light district?"

b_b_b_b_b_b

Ianto and Tosh checked into a hotel, and changed into more appropriate clothing for visiting pubs and clubbing. They had an early dinner, and then headed off to Chorlton Street, in the Gay Village. They each had a photo of Jack, that they showed to the staff of each pub, restaurant and club that they went in. Eventually they struck gold, and a barman pointed them in the direction of the Paddy's Goose pub on Bloom Street. He warned them not to show the photo there, as that would scare away most of those who 'worked' there.

They spent the rest of that evening in the pub, waiting for Jack to turn up. Tosh felt very out of place; she was practically the only woman in there. Ianto was propositioned several times. He declined each offer politely, and watched as a steady stream of young men visited the bathroom, closely followed by their more mature friends.

Jack did not appear that night, so at pub closing time they headed back to their hotel. They would try again the next day.

b_b_b_b_b_b

The following afternoon they did the rounds of more bars and restaurants, and again were told that Jack frequented Paddy's Goose. So, in the absence of any other leads, they went back there. They were getting some peculiar looks from the regulars, who couldn't understand why they were there again, and were getting suspicious. But they just ignored the looks and waited.

They were rewarded for their patience, when Jack walked in the door. He looked even thinner than when Tosh had last seen him. And he was dressed to pull, in black leather trousers, tight white T-shirt and leather jacket. He took one look at them, turned, and practically ran out of the door.

Tosh and Ianto rushed after him. "Wait Jack," Tosh shouted. "It's OK, it's only us."

Ianto's heart nearly broke to see the fear and distrust in Jack's eyes.

Hesitating, and obviously ready to bolt at any moment, Jack allowed them to approach. He was scanning the nearby area, looking for UNIT snipers.

"Have you brought UNIT?" he asked, his fear showing plainly.

"No Jack, it's OK, you know I would never do that," Tosh assured him. "It's just me and Ianto."

"Why are you here? You knew I didn't want anyone to find me," he said to Tosh accusingly.

Tosh approached Jack slowly, signaling Ianto to stay back. She touched his arm gently.

"Jack, things have changed. There was new evidence. The Queen has officially pardoned you, and UNIT are no longer after you. You can come home."

"I am home, Tosh."

"No Jack," Ianto put in. "Your home is with us, in Cardiff."

"I don't think so," Jack replied, his hostility coming across in the clipped way he said it. "And anyway, why should I believe you? What evidence? The only witnesses I had, had their memories erased when time reset, or are dead."

"When they refurbished the Valiant, they found hundreds of DVDs, which showed what really happened to you, and why you did what you did," explained Tosh.

It took a moment to sink in, but, when Jack realised that they had seen DVDs of what happened in the secret room, he was filled with horror and shame. He felt sick. They had seen it all, seen when he grovelled at the Master's feet begging for mercy, when he cried in pain and agony. And the worst humiliation of all, when he had let the Master violently rape him.

Murmuring, "no," Jack backed away trembling, and then ran.


	13. Chapter 13

Jack ran wildly, unthinking, until he had to stop through exhaustion. Images from the Valiant flashed through his head. With her words Tosh had effectively pried open the fragile lid that he constantly fought to keep on the memories that haunted him. Never far from overwhelming him, they were now boiling up from the depths of his mind, along with the added trauma of knowing that what he had suffered had been witnessed by others. A sob burst from his throat. All those times, of utter humiliation and degradation, had been watched by people who had once been his closest friends, and by god knew how many others.

He had been drawing a few suspicious stares during his headlong flight, but the late hour meant that the streets were largely empty. When he stopped and slumped, chest heaving, on a pavement against a wall, he was alone. As he finally calmed enough to start thinking again, Jack looked around, to see where he was. He recognised a pub on the corner, as one that was a couple of miles from his flat.

Memories threatened to overwhelm him. He cringed. He knew what would happen. They would get more vivid, and frequent, until he found himself reliving entire episodes, complete with all the terror and pain of the original experience. This was what he had to stave off every few days. He wasn't due, but there was only one way to drive them back down. He would be able to think of nothing else until it was done.

Finally taking stock of his surroundings, Jack was incredibly thankful to find that there was no sign of Tosh, or Ianto, or UNIT. Pushing himself unsteadily to his feet, he started off in the direction of his flat. Though it was torture to delay, he took a circuitous route, doubling back through several alleys along the way. Finally, certain that he was not being followed, he headed home. He passed Ray's man, Danny, on the door.

"Not working tonight then, Jack?" Danny asked.

Jack shook his head, and practically ran up the stairs. Locking his door behind him, he threw his jacket down and went into the bedroom. Hands shaking, he prepared a fix as quickly as he could.

b_b_b_b_b

As Jack ran, Ianto started to chase him, but Tosh called him back. "Let him go, Ianto."

Ianto was astounded. "Are you crazy? We'll lose him!" He couldn't bear it if they lost Jack now.

"No we won't," Tosh reassured him. "I planted a tracer on him when I touched him. We'll give him some time to calm down, and then talk to him again."

"Not just talk," argued Ianto. "We can't leave him here, not living like this, even if he wants us to."

"We can try to persuade him to come back," argued Tosh, "but if he refuses, then it's his decision."

"You'd leave him here, working as a prostitute!" Ianto cried, shocked. "He needs us, you said it yourself back in Cardiff."

"Yes, he needs us. But that doesn't mean that he will want us. I want him to come with us, of course I do," Tosh exclaimed in distress. "I want the chance to make things up to him. He must be so traumatised, and we all owe him a debt that we can never repay. But what right do we have to force him to come? If we force him we'd be acting no better than UNIT."

Ianto was clearly unconvinced. "I won't leave him here, living this life, Tosh."

"We won't be. He no longer has to hide, and when we tell Jack that he has access to his assets again, he won't need to stay here. He can make his own choice about what to do."

b_b_b_b_b

Tosh and Ianto left it an hour before they followed Jack. The tracer showed that he had gone to a nearby flat, and appeared to be staying there. Presumably that was where he lived. When they got to the building, the front door was open, and no one was in sight. Checking the signal, Tosh led Ianto up the stairs to a first floor flat. They knocked, and waited, but there was no reply.

"He's definitely in there," Tosh said. "At least his jacket is. That's what I attached the tracer to." She tried the door, but it was locked. Checking that there was no one nearby, she opened her bag and took out the alien unlocking device. It took only seconds to unlock the door, and they entered the flat without being seen.

There was no sign of Jack, but what they could see, was that he had been living in poverty. It was clean, but very basic. There was some worn out furniture, a small TV, and a few pots and pans. A jacket lay on the couch. Tosh picked it up and removed the tracer, sliding it into her bag.

"I guess he may not be here after all," she said.

"There's another room," Ianto pointed out. "It must be the bedroom. If he's not there, we'll have to set up surveillance on the building, and wait for him." As he spoke, he pushed open the bedroom door, not really expecting Jack to be there. The Jack he knew would have noticed their presence in his flat instantly, and challenged them.

"Jesus Christ!" yelled Ianto in horror.

Tosh was at his side in an instant. She gasped at what she saw. Jack was there. He lay sprawled on his bed, dressed in the black leather trousers and T-shirt he had been wearing earlier. A ligature was tied around his arm, and an empty syringe lay on the bed next to him. On the bedside table were a burner, a spoon and a half empty packet of brown powder. The short sleeved T-shirt allowed them to see the prominent track marks on both of Jack's arms. His eyes were open, but he was oblivious to their presence.

"What's the powder?" Tosh asked Ianto.

He looked at it carefully, and finally answered. "I'm not sure, but I think it's heroin."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Why would he do this? I can understand the prostitution, but not this."

"I guess if you have nothing in life worth living for, but you cant die, you have to do something to make it bearable," Ianto surmised with sadness. "And we made damn sure he had nothing to live for, didn't we," he added bitterly. "Especially me."

"This settles it Tosh," Ianto said, waving his hand towards Jack. "I don't care if he wants to come with us or not, I'm not leaving him here. He needs our help, and he's going to get it whether he wants it or not." His determination was obvious. He was not going to desert Jack again.

Seeing the depths to which Jack had sunk, was shocking. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Tosh capitulated. "You're right, we have to help him. He might hate us for it, but he's coming back with us now," Tosh declared. "We''ll take him back to Torchwood, and look after him properly. Get him away from this life."

"I'll call Owen, and get him to come up with the SUV," said Ianto. "It'll take 3 or 4 hours, but I don't think Jack will even wake up before then."

"If he does, I doubt that he'll agree to go with us," warned Tosh

"Well, we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it," Ianto answered. "He must hate us already, this will just add to his reasons."

b_b_b_b_b

As they waited, Ianto sat by Jack's side, holding his hand. He doubted that he'd be allowed to do that once Jack woke. He gazed at the man that he loved. Jack was haggard, and thin to the point of emaciation. He looked incredibly fragile lying there on the bed, not unconscious, but oblivious to what was going on around him. This was Jack's reward for protecting them on the Valiant; a life of drug abuse and prostitution. Protective instincts, that Ianto didn't even know he possessed, rose up in him, and he clutched Jack's hand tighter. No longer, things would be better for Jack now.

Two hours into their wait for Owen, there was loud knocking on Jack's door. Tosh and Ianto ignored it, hoping that, if there was no answer, the person would go away.

But, instead, there was the sound of a key in the lock, and a man entered. He took one look, and yelled "Frank, Danny, get up here now." The two men pounded up the stairs, and into the flat, where they stopped on either side of the man who had called them.

"Problem, Ray?" one of them asked.

Ray indicated Tosh and Ianto. "Now," he said, "what the hell are you doing in my flat?"

"We're friends of Jack," Ianto replied carefully, hoping to avoid a full blown confrontation. "We thought it was his flat."

"He lives in my flat, because he is one of my employees," Ray answered coldly. He turned to Frank. "Go check on him," he ordered.

Frank walked into the bedroom, and looked Jack over. "He's stoned, but fine," he reported.

Ray relaxed minutely at that, but he was still angry. "He wasn't due for a hit yet, he's supposed to be working tonight. What did you do to set him off?"

Tosh and Ianto cringed. They knew that this man was right. They had pushed Jack into this.

Guilt, combined with the fact that this was obviously Jack's pimp, made Ianto hostile. He bristled, but held back from saying anything confrontational. "We brought him some news, but he didn't react well to seeing us."

Ray was still suspicious. "You said you're friends of his, but I know he doesn't have any friends round here."

"We're from Cardiff," put in Tosh.

That made sense. "Oh, so you are the ones he goes to see every now and then?"

Tosh nodded, though she had not realised that Jack had visited Cardiff more than once. He had obviously done a better job of staying out of sight on the other occasions.

Ray's expression hardened again. "Well, you've seen him, so you can get out now."

Ianto was about to argue, but Tosh pulled on his arm and steered him out of the flat. "Yes of course, we'll be going straight away. Sorry to have bothered you." And with that, she dragged Ianto out of the front door and down the street.

"I'm not leaving him here," Ianto started, when they were out of sight and earshot.

"No, of course we won't leave him," Tosh reassured him. "But we don't want to get into a fight. Owen will be here in another hour or so, and then we'll go back and get him."

b_b_b_b_b

When Owen arrived in Manchester, he contacted them on the comms. They arranged to meet him a couple of blocks from Jack's flat. As always, the SUV contained a variety of equipment for dealing with aliens and humans. Outlining the situation to Owen, they selected a few mild tranquiliser darts and drove back to the building. They parked just around the corner from Jack's front door.

"They will probably have someone guarding Jack," Ianto explained. "To make sure we don't come back while he's out of it."

They were right. One of the pimp's goons was standing guard at the front door, but it was the work of a moment to shoot him with a tranquiliser dart. He fell soundlessly. The three of them crept upstairs, and Tosh shot the other man, who was standing outside Jack's door. They used the alien device to unlock the door, and Tosh kept watch, as Owen and Ianto went into the flat. They loaded all Jack's clothes, and his few personal possessions, into a holdall, including his drug stash and equipment. Handing the bag to Tosh, they went back into the bedroom to fetch Jack, who was still oblivious. Carrying him between them, they staggered down the stairs, while Tosh stood guard with the tranquiliser gun. They made it to the SUV without being seen. Ianto took the backseat, with Jack laying across it, his head on Ianto's lap. Owen and Tosh went in the front. Moments later, they were heading out of Manchester and back to Cardiff.


	14. Chapter 14

"Right," said Owen, when they hit the motorway. "Care to explain how you got from finding Jack compos mentis in a pub, to us kidnapping him, stoned to the eyeballs, from a den of iniquity?"

Tosh looked down sadly. "It was my fault. Jack took off the moment he saw us. We caught him up outside, and he let us talk to him for a minute. He was so scared, Owen. He thought we'd brought UNIT with us."

"It wasn't just you, Tosh," Ianto pointed out. "He was more scared of me."

"But you weren't the one who told him about the DVDs," Tosh argued. "That's what pushed him over the edge."

Owen could hardly believe what he had just heard. "You bloody idiots! You shouldn't have told him about that. How did you expect him to take it? How would you take it, it were you on those DVDs?"

"I know," sobbed Tosh, her emotions at last catching up with her. "But he was about to run, and I wanted him to know that he was safe now, that UNIT aren't after him anymore. And he asked what evidence had cleared him."

Owen softened a bit. He patted Tosh's arm gently. "What's done is done. We'll just have to carry on from here."

"How the hell did we reduce him to this?" asked Ianto, largely to himself, as he gently carded his fingers through Jack's hair. "Prostitution was bad enough, but drugs as well. And it is all our fault. He needed help after the Valiant, and we failed him totally."

They lapsed into an unhappy silence as the SUV sped down the motorway.

b_b_b_b_b_b

Two hours into the journey back to Cardiff, Jack began to stir. He half opened his eyes and looked around, without understanding where he was. "Ray?", he asked.

Ianto blanched, as jealousy flooded through him. He knew who Ray was, and he couldn't bear the thought of Jack having any kind of relationship, even friendship, with the man who pimped him out. He knew he had lost all rights to expect anything from Jack, years before, but his newly returned memories were still fresh, and he regretted the loss of the love they had shared more than anything.

As Jack became more aware, he realised that he was no longer safe in his own flat. He was being taken somewhere! Total panic overtook him. UNIT had found him. They were going to take him back to that life of pain and humiliation.

As Jack started to thrash and fight against him, Ianto tried to calm him down. "It's alright Jack, you're safe, it's me Ianto."

But as the identity of his kidnappers became clear, Jack fought just as hard. Tosh might not hand him over to UNIT, but the rest of them would. He grabbed the door handle.

"Jack, no! We're on the motorway, don't open the door." Ianto cried. But Jack did not stop fighting, and actually managed to open the door for a second, before Ianto slammed it shut again. "Tosh, help me," Ianto yelled.

Owen was looking for the best place to get off the motorway, so they could stop, but, when the fracas escalated, he decided to just pull over on the hard shoulder.

Jack was wrestling with Ianto in earnest by this point, though he was hampered by his continuing disorientation. Leaping out of the car, Owen ran round to the boot. Grabbing a tranquiliser dart, he hurried around to the door furthest from the 70 mph traffic that was whizzing past. Opening the door he jabbed the dart into Jack's leg. In seconds, Jack subsided into sleep. The rest of the journey to Cardiff was uneventful.

When they arrived in the underground car park at the Hub, it was close to 4am. Tosh fetched a gurney, and they loaded Jack onto it. Gwen and Joanne had prepared a room for Jack on the lower levels. It was nowhere near the cells, as they did not want Jack to feel that he was a prisoner yet again. Jack's bunker under the main office was now used for whoever was on backup night duty at the Hub.

b_b_b_b_b_b

In the surveillance flat, two UNIT soldiers lounged in chairs. They were bored stiff. They had been watching for Jack Harkness for weeks, with absolutely nothing to report. It was incredibly difficult to stay awake through the long, uneventful, nights. One of the two was actually dozing in his chair.

As the Torchwood SUV pulled in to the underground garage, it showed up on the monitor. The soldier nudged his companion. "Wake up, they're back."

They watched the monitor as the Torchwood team unloaded what appeared to be a body. The angle of the camera did not allow them to see any details of what or who it was.

"Probably just another of their alien problems," one suggested.

"Yeah," the other agreed. "Let's log it."

They made a note, and sank back into semi dozes.

b_b_b_b_b_b

Laying Jack upon the bed in his room, Ianto gazed at him anxiously. Gwen and Tosh stood to one side as Owen, who had barely had a chance to see Jack, finally got a good look at him. Joanne had brought some medical equipment down from the autopsy bay, and she handed him the stethoscope to check Jack's heart and chest. Predictably they were fine. Owen pulled Jack's T-shirt up to check for injuries, There were none, though Jack was clearly undernourished. He lifted each of his arms in turn, rotating them and gazing at the track marks. "By the looks of this he's a heavy user."

"We brought some of the stuff he was using," Ianto said, as he dug it out of the bag they had put Jack's things in. "Here."

Owen looked at it carefully. "It looks like heroin to me, but we need to find out for sure. Joanne, can you go up to the lab, and analyse a sample of it to check?"

As Joanne took the sample, Owen continued his examination. Seeing Jack in this state, and knowing that it was down to him and the Torchwood team, was heartbreaking. He forced himself into physician mode, clamping down on his emotions. He shooed the other members of the team out of the room, so that he could check Jack thoroughly. Dreading what he might find, given what he now knew of Jack's lifestyle, he removed Jack's lower clothing. There was damage, but, to Owen's heartfelt relief, it was minor. Jack's clients clearly were not abusive. After treating the area with salve, Owen took some samples to test for STDs,. When he was done, Owen re-dressed Jack, and called the others back.

"He's basically fine," he reported. "Malnourished, but heroin suppresses the appetite. So, if that is heroin he's using, that would explain why he's so thin. If we get him on a balanced diet that should be easy to sort out."

"We need to get him off that drug, whatever it is," Ianto stated adamantly.

"Yes, but he won't thank us for it. You know that don't you?" Owen warned.

Ianto and Tosh both nodded. "It doesn't matter if he hates us, we need to do what is best for Jack," was Tosh's reply. "He was adamant that he didn't want to come with us, so he's going to be spitting mad when he comes round anyway, and justifiably."

Gwen, who had only heard the bare bones of what went on in Manchester, was in a state of stunned disbelief. "Are you sure you understood right?" she quizzed Tosh and Ianto. "I just can't believe that Jack would work as a prostitute, never mind take drugs!"

"There's no mistake," Ianto assured her. "And what's worse is that he wanted to stay living that life, rather than come back to Cardiff with us."

"And if it wasn't for the drugs, we'd have let him," Tosh interjected. "It should have been his choice."

"There's something I suggest that we do," Owen said, seriously. "Jack knows the Hub better than any of us. And he's going to want to get out, to find drugs. We can try and keep him here, but we should be prepared if he does manage to get away from us."

"What are you suggesting?" asked Ianto.

"We should implant a tracer under his skin. He'd never know it was there, but if he gets away we'll be able to find him."

"Are you certain he wouldn't realise?"

"It's minute," Owen explained. He held up a small vial, in which a chip, only a couple of millimetres across, sat. "The very latest in tracking devices. If I implant it on his back, between his shoulders, there's no chance of him ever noticing it."

"Well, we're already violating his rights," Tosh pointed out, slightly hysterically. "What does once more matter?"

No one objected, so Owen rolled Jack onto his side, moved his T-shirt out of the way, and implanted the chip. Then he made Jack comfortable again. "He should sleep off the tranquiliser in another couple of hours. Someone should stay with him to reassure him when he wakes." He looked at Ianto and Tosh.

"I think Tosh should stay," suggested Ianto, surprising Owen, who had thought Ianto would be stuck to Jack's side like glue. "Jack seemed to trust her more than me, when we saw him. And I don't want him to panic when he wakes up again."

"That may be because I saw him in Cardiff, but did not hand him over to UNIT," Tosh agreed. " He may still believe that the rest of you would hand him over."

Ianto, Gwen and Owen looked stricken at this, but acknowledged to themselves that, only a few months ago, they would have done exactly that.

"You need to convince him that UNIT are no longer after him, Tosh," advised Ianto. "I don't think he believed us before. He probably thought it was a trick."

"And, Tosh," Owen added. "We don't want Jack to see himself as a prisoner, but it's probably unavoidable. We can't let him leave the Hub, for his own good. Try to get him to believe that we only have his best interests at heart."

Not to be left out, Gwen added her contribution. "Make sure that he understands that we know that he wasn't responsible for anything that happened on the Valiant, and that we know that we misjudged him totally."

"Oh yes, I'm sure I'll manage all that," Tosh spat sarcastically. "And how about I organise world peace at the same time? It might be easier," she muttered to herself.

b_b_b_b_b_b

Gwen and Ianto had joined Owen in his office. They had his computer screen set to show the CCTV images from Jack's room. He was still unconscious. Tosh was sitting next to the bed.

"What are we going to do now?" Ianto asked Owen.

"Well, the first step is up to Tosh," Owen pointed out. "We have to hope that she can convince Jack that he is safe."

"Yes, but even if she can persuade him, there's the drugs to deal with," Ianto added, "and, as you said, he won't want us to force him to give them up."

"Unless you want us to leave him addicted, and become his supplier, we don't have a choice about that," Owen replied. "And we've all seen those DVDs. Jack has dealt with a hell of a lot of worse things than heroin withdrawal."

"But not things forced on him by so called friends," Gwen pointed out. "But I agree. We owe it to him to help him get his life sorted out. If that means doing something that he won't like, that's what we have to do."

"It just seems so unfair that, after all he's suffered, the first thing we do will be to make him suffer more," Ianto added sadly.

At that moment, Joanne knocked on the door. She came in with the results of her analysis. "You were right," she announced. "It's heroin, and good quality stuff at that."

Owen sighed. "I'd better go brush up on the effects of heroin withdrawal, then. It's going to be hard, but we want to do all that we can to make this as painless as possible for Jack." He paused to rub his eyes. "Mark will be in soon, to man the Hub. The rest of you go home, get some sleep. I'll keep an eye on Jack and Tosh."

Ianto wanted to argue, but he was dog tired, and emotionally drained, after the events of the day. He'd be more help to Jack fresh the next day, than if he insisted on staying now.

I'll sleep in the bunker and relieve you in four hours, OK?" Gwen told Owen. "You need sleep as much as we do."

b_b_b_b_b_b

When Jack awoke, his fear was the first thing that hit him. Every muscle tense, he stayed absolutely still, eyes closed, listening for anything that could give him a clue as to where he was, and who was with him. The only clue he got was the sound of soft breathing nearby. One person. Still keeping absolutely still, he cracked his eyes open. Tosh sat in a chair close to where he lay. He relaxed slightly. Of all the people it could have been, Tosh was the person least likely to try to hurt him. She was asleep, and there was no one else in the room. He glanced towards the ceiling, where he saw a camera. So every move he made would be seen on CCTV.

Looking around, he saw that the room was small, but comfortable. Not a cell, then. Perhaps Tosh and Ianto had spoken the truth, and he was no longer a fugitive. There was one way to find out. Slipping quietly off the bed, he walked to the door and tried it. Locked. He should have known. The hope he hadn't even realised he was feeling, died away. He looked at Tosh. Perhaps she had the key. He considered searching her, but she would wake, and then what? He would never hurt her to get it, and there was guaranteed to be someone watching on the CCTV. No, this was not the time, it was better to wait. And waiting was something he had plenty of practice at.

Jack sat on the bed in despair, and cursed himself. He should have known better. He had known that it wasn't safe to stay in Manchester. He should have left as soon as he revived in the hospital. And just to compound his idiocy, he had taken a hit, and left himself completely vulnerable, knowing that Torchwood were nearby. The fact that emotional trauma had set off his memories, and the desperation for drugs had been overwhelming, was no excuse. But how had they found him at all? What had led them to Manchester? He had scoured the internet everyday since that time, and had not found a hint of anything that could have led to him.

Jack froze, as Tosh stirred. Now that he had had time to remember what happened, he cringed. The thought of his team ... no, scratch that, they weren't his team, and had not been for several years. The thought of these people watching what had happened to him on the Valiant was utterly humiliating. Just the thought made him flush with shame.

At that moment Tosh opened her eyes and looked at him. "Jack," she exclaimed. "You're awake."

He just looked at her, like a deer caught in headlights, his whole body taut as a bowstring.

Tosh started again, this time very quietly and gently. "Jack, everything is OK. You're back at the Hub. What Ianto and I told you, about you being pardoned, it's all true. So you are a free man. UNIT can't touch you anymore."

"Then why am I locked in?" Jack asked, indicating the door. "If I'm free, why have you locked me up?"

Tosh knew that he would ask that. And she had to be honest. "You are free Jack, but you are also an addict. For your own good, we can't let you out of the Hub until you get that sorted."

It was just like Jack had feared. Even if, in the best case scenario, Torchwood did not hand him over to UNIT, they would withhold his drugs. It was going to be like the UNIT prison, all over again. The fact that Torchwood would be doing it with a completely different motive, if he believed that, was no consolation.

Voice cracking with suppressed emotion, Jack ground out, "You have no right."

"It's for your own good, Jack," repeated Tosh.

"You have no idea what it will do to me. What **you** will do to me, if you do this," Jack hissed.

"I know it will be hard," Tosh answered sympathetically, "but it will be for the best in the long run. And, now that you've been pardoned, you have access to all your assets again. You don't need to work as a prostitute anymore. You can do anything you want."

"Anything except leave here, and make my own decisions, right?" Jack demanded sarcastically. As he spoke his mind was racing. He actually believed Tosh when she said that UNIT was no longer after him. And that should be a cause for celebration. But, in the current circumstances, it wasn't; he was still a prisoner. Torchwood would try to dictate his actions. They truly could not comprehend the implications of withholding the drugs. They would believe that a mere physical withdrawal would solve the problem. Jack knew, from bitter experience, that that was nothing compared to what would come later. Resentment laced his next words. "What makes you think that, after four years of abandonment, I will go along with anything that Torchwood want from me now? You washed your hands of me, and I came to terms with that. I am no longer any of Torchwood's concern."

"But you are Jack," Tosh cried. "We know what you did for us. And we know how badly we treated you. We are so, so sorry. Please let us help you, and try to make amends."

"Then let me go," Jack implored her. "Take my word that forcing me off the drugs is not the answer, and let me leave here. You said yourself that I'm a free man, so Torchwood has no right to stop me."

For a moment Tosh was tempted to do as he asked. The last thing she wanted was to hurt Jack in any way. But then her common sense took over. Jack was an addict. He would say anything to preserve his drug supply. The best thing that she, and Torchwood, could do for him was get him off the drugs.

Seeing the conflicting emotions cross Tosh's face, Jack forced himself to be calm. There were two things that he could not afford Torchwood to find out. One was that physical withdrawal was not the end of his addiction, and the other was what had happened in the UNIT prison. The Torchwood team might pity him now, but he could imagine how that would change if they discovered that he had spilled all of Torchwood's secrets to UNIT. Getting angry could lead to a loose tongue, which he could not risk.

"I'm sorry I can't let you go," Tosh finally answered, tears flowing down her face. "The last thing I want is to hurt you Jack, but you need help with this."

Sensing defeat with Tosh, Jack began to plan. He knew the Hub better than anyone, and he knew all the security features, though, no doubt his codes wouldn't work any more. He would get away, and he had to do it before true withdrawal hit, and he became incapable of coherent thought.


	15. Chapter 15

Jack woke after several hours of sleep. After the confrontation with Tosh, he had decided to bide his time and, having nothing better to do, had slept. Tosh still sat in the chair next to him. She was awake this time.

She smiled at him. "I've never known you sleep so much."

It was true. It was now years since the Valiant, but he had never returned to the sleep patterns he had had before that. He now slept long, and often. Jack assumed that there was some relationship between psychological trauma and the need for sleep; it was an escape of sorts after all. There certainly seemed to be in his case.

"It's 2pm," Tosh told him. "Everyone is back in. Owen would like you to come to his office for a meeting, when you feel ready."

Jack sat up blearily. "Is there a bathroom I can use?" he asked.

"Sure," Tosh answered brightly. "We've done some refurbishing. There's a bathroom right next door. There's everything you might need in there." She unlocked the door and showed him. "I'll wait out here for you."

As Jack used the bathroom, Tosh contacted Owen on the comms, to let him know that they would be up for the meeting shortly.

In the bathroom, Jack stared at his reflection. He looked terrible. He closed his eyes, and steeled himself for the meeting to come. If he was to get out of the Hub, in time to avoid the secondary stage of withdrawal, he would have to keep his wits about him. He would need to trick the team, as he had on the Valiant. At least, he thought wryly, he knew that he could do that.

b_b_b_b_b

When Jack and Tosh got to Owen's office, Ianto and Gwen were already there.

As Jack sat down he avoided eye contact with the others.

Nobody said anything for a minute, then Owen cleared his throat and began, hesitantly. "Jack, first I need to say what we all feel. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, for what you did for us on the Valiant. I only wish that there was some way to take back the way we treated you, during that time, and after." Remembering just what Jack had done for him, Owen's voice broke.

Jack did not respond. He kept his gaze firmly fixed on the table. Underneath the table his hands were clenched tight.

"I know that you didn't come here under the best circumstances," Owen continued, "but I hope that you believe that we are on your side and just want the best for you."

Jack looked up at that. "And why would I believe that? You kidnapped me from my home, and brought me here against my will."

"We only want to help you," Gwen interjected. "Like Tosh told you, you've been pardoned, so you don't need to live that life anymore."

"And what if I want to?" demanded Jack. "For the first time in years, I had everything under control, I was content. And you've wrecked it!"

"How could you be content, selling yourself to support your drug habit!" Ianto cried.

Jack looked him straight in the eye. "It was a far better life than I had on the Valiant, or in that prison."

Ianto blanched. "Jack, I know that we ..., I, treated you dreadfully on the Valiant. I want you to know that I truly regret all the cruel things that I said to you. And I regret more than I can ever say, that I let you be taken by UNIT afterwards. I wish I could express how much I thank you for protecting me, and the others, from the Master." He trailed off. Nerves were making him overly formal. He wasn't getting across his true feelings; his utter remorse over what had happened, and the desperate wish to make amends. There was so much more that he wanted to say, but could not with a room full of people listening to his every word. He tentatively reached out towards the other man, but withdrew, as Jack flinched away.

Seeing Ianto in distress, Owen stepped in. He pulled a document out of an envelope, and placed it flat on the table in front of Jack. It was ornate, and written in flowery language. It was the pardon, signed by the Queen herself. "This is yours," Owen stated quietly.

Jack picked it up. He looked at it with something akin to wonder. "I didn't really believe you."

"It's less than you deserve," Gwen answered. "We would have tried to completely exonerate you, but the law is an ass. I'm sorry that this was the best that we could do."

"What grounds did you have for getting me pardoned?" Jack asked. "It's not as if I wasn't guilty of the charges."

"I told you," Tosh said. "When the Valiant was refurbished, they found DVDs recording what the Master did to you, and the deal you had to make with him."

"And why did that make any difference?" Jack asked bitterly. "I sold myself to the Master, body and soul. Why does it matter if I did that for my safety, or yours? Am I worth so much less than you?"

Gwen was quick to reassure him. "No, Jack. No! It wasn't because you did it for us, that you were pardoned! It was because you were under more pressure than any reasonable person could be expected to resist. Because you were immortal, and could suffer more than anyone."

Jack was unconvinced. "When did you start working to get me exonerated? Was it before you knew I worked for the Master, for your sake, or only after?"

"It was before," Tosh assured him. And it was only half a lie. They had started working to exonerate Jack before they found out about the deal. But for some of them, their hearts hadn't been in it until afterwards. The others remained carefully silent.

"It wasn't the reason you were pardoned, but we are all incredibly grateful for what you did," reiterated Gwen. "We all owe you a debt greater than we can ever repay. What you did for us ... "

Jack remembered only too well what he did for them.

"And the way we treated you," Gwen continued. "We are all truly sorry. You were so convincing that we all believed the act that you put on."

"Did you never wonder why you were never harmed?," Jack asked, glancing at each of them. "Threatened maybe, but never actually harmed, while all around you, prisoners were being tortured and dying."

All the Torchwood team were mortified that they had not.

Jack looked away from them in disgust. "If you are all so grateful to me, then let me leave. You've done your duty, and told me about the pardon. You've even rescued me from a life of prostitution. After all, now I have money, I can buy what I need without that. Let that be enough, and let me go."

"We can't do that, Jack," Gwen responded earnestly. "You still need help with the drugs. We can't just abandon you."

"I don't want your help," Jack shouted. "I just want you to leave me alone, to get on with my life the way I see fit. And you have no right to keep me here."

"It would only be for a few months," Owen put in. "You could go on a methadone program, here in the Hub. I could supervise it, along with Joanne. She's our new doctor. Basically, you replace the heroin with methadone. Over the first couple of months we'd aim to get you stabilised on a maintenance dose. Then we'd eventually taper the dose, very slowly, until you could give the methadone up. It should be done alongside counselling, and it would probably take about a year altogether, but you could move out of the Hub once you were stabilised."

Jack was utterly horrified by this suggestion. He knew that neither going cold turkey, nor dying, had any effect on the psychological aspect of his addiction. So there was no way that he believed that methadone would work. It might alleviate the physical aspect of the addiction, but not the rest. And his plan for escape depended on lulling the Torchwood team into a false belief that he was no longer desperate to get drugs, before the psychological withdrawal hit him. He estimated that he had two more days before physical withdrawal began, and then another day, or day and a half, after that ceased, before the real withdrawal. A long slow methadone program was out of the question. Time for some misdirection.

"You want to keep me at the Hub for months!" he exclaimed. "That's insane."

"We'll make it as comfortable as we possibly can for you," Owen assured him. "We could bring you anything you needed. It'd be like staying in a hotel."

"A hotel that I can't leave, you mean," retorted Jack. "I call that a prison."

"More like one of these celebrity rehab clinics," Owen insisted.

"Well I won't do it. I won't be a prisoner for months."

"Then we'll just have to keep you here until you agree," argued Owen. "I'm truly sorry, but you need to kick the drugs."

"So, you'd keep me as a prisoner, just like the Master and UNIT?" Jack accused.

"No! Not like them," exclaimed Tosh. "We would just be trying to help you."

"I keep telling you, I don't want to be helped!"

"Well, we're going to help you, whether you want our help or not!" yelled Ianto.

"So you won't let me go?" asked Jack.

"No," confirmed Owen.

Jack sat in silence for a while. He knew exactly what he had to do, but he needed to make it convincing. "OK," he finally said. "I'll kick the drugs. But I want to do it my way. I don't want it to take months."

"What are you suggesting?" asked Owen.

"I'll come off them right now. Go cold turkey. That way it'll all be over in a few days."

"Jack, no," Tosh exclaimed, "that would be awful for you."

Jack had lost count of the times he had gone through physical withdrawal in the UNIT prison. It was a walk in the park, compared to what the Master had put him through. As long as he did not reach the second stage of withdrawal, he could cope. "I'd rather do that, than spend months confined to the Hub."

"Coming off drugs should be done alongside counselling," Owen advised seriously. "Especially for someone who has been through what you have."

"We can discuss that later," argued Jack. "If you're going to make me do this, I want the withdrawal sorted first."

Seeing that Jack was adamant about this, and thinking that half a victory was better than none, Owen reluctantly nodded. "Alright, if you insist, we'll do it your way. But I'm going to have methadone to hand, in case you change your mind. Now, you know your timescales for doses. You had one yesterday, when will you need another?"

Jack was honest about that, as there would be no faking the physical reactions. "Two more days."

"Really?" Owen said, surprised. "That's a long time. Usually I'd expect withdrawal to start within a day."

"I guess it's my immortal biology then."

"Yes, probably," agreed Owen. "What dose are you on anyway?"

Jack didn't see any reason to lie about that either. "2.5"

"2.5 milligrammes?," checked Owen.

"No, grammes," corrected Jack.

"Jesus, Jack, " exclaimed Owen with horror. "That's enough to kill a horse. How the hell did you end up taking that much?"

That was something that Jack definitely did not want to discuss. "Immortal biology again, I guess," he lied.

b_b_b_b_b

That afternoon, after a very late lunch, Tosh suggested to Jack that he check out his assets on the internet. All the assets should now be available to him, but Tosh wouldn't put it past the snail-like pace of the civil service to have failed to complete the necessary paperwork.

As she watched him working on a computer across from her station, she noticed him glance briefly her way. She could practically read his mind. He was testing the Hub security. Secure in the knowledge that none of Jack's old codes would work, and that there was no way he could get round her security systems, Tosh allowed him to try.

Jack looked up to see Tosh, with a small smile on her face. She knows exactly what you're doing, he told himself, but, surprisingly, that did not worry him. And he had got nowhere, as she presumably expected. Knowing when he was beaten, he returned to checking out his various bank accounts. Amazingly, he could access all of them. That would be very useful when he got out of the Hub.

b_b_b_b_b

Ianto escorted Jack to his room, that night. He followed Jack in, and they stood in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments. Jack kept plenty of space between them, and did not look directly at Ianto.

"I've been trying to get you alone, all day," Ianto admitted.

Jack had noticed, and had been doing his best to avoid it. He just didn't know what to say to Ianto. On the one hand, he had loved the man totally, only a few short years before. But, on the other hand, that love had been crushed and obliterated by events, and Ianto's actions.

Getting no response, Ianto started to speak, tentatively. "I remembered, Jack. I broke through the retcon, and I remember that night on the Valiant."

Jack froze. Many times on the Valiant, and afterwards, he had prayed that Ianto would remember. But it was too late. Too much had happened. He had walled off that shattered part of his heart, long ago. He should have kept his cool, continued with his act, but emotion make him speak truthfully, and angrily. "And I remember too Ianto," he hissed. "I also remember that you stood back, and let that mob attack me. I remember that you denied that you ever loved me, as you let UNIT take me away. And I know that you moved on."

Faced with Jack's accusation, Ianto faltered. It was not as if he could deny what he said. It was all true. He seized on the one fact that he could argue with. "What do you mean, moved on?"

All Jack wanted was to end the confrontation. He didn't want to get into a heart to heart with Ianto. In a couple of days he would be gone, and would hopefully never see any of the team again. "I saw you with your girlfriend about a year ago," he sighed. "But, it's OK," he added, lying through his teeth, "we were a long time done by then. It was to be expected."

Ianto was stunned to discover that Jack knew about Ellie. "It didn't last," he finally stammered..

"I'm tired," Jack said, changing the subject abruptly. "I want to sleep."

"Oh, OK," Ianto said, with sorrow. It was clear that Jack did not want to talk to him. But he consoled himself with the fact that there would be other opportunities. Jack needed time, and the least Ianto could do was give it to him. He followed Jack's lead, and returned to mundane matters. "All your things that we brought from Manchester are here," he said, indicating the bag that they had used to pack Jack's belongings. The only things that had been removed were the drug paraphernalia. "You'd better use the bathroom then, before I," he blushed with shame, "lock you in for the night."

"You could just leave it unlocked," Jack suggested.

"You don't really expect me to say yes to that, do you?" Ianto retorted, smiling slightly. "I may not like having to do this, but I genuinely believe it will help you, so I'm going to make sure you stick around. And one of us will be on duty out here all night, in case you need anything." Or manage to get out and start looking for an exit, he thought sadly.

b_b_b_b_b

The next day, Owen escorted Jack to meet the new Torchwood employees. Jack was frustrated that he was never left on his own, even for a minute, except for when he was locked in his room. And then there was always someone outside, plus CCTV surveillance. He was also not over the moon to be meeting people who, he assumed, knew his history.

Owen took Jack down to the autopsy bay, where Joanne was working. "Joanne, I'd like you to meet Captain Jack Harkness," he announced formally. "He was leader of Torchwood for many years. Jack, this is Joanne Grainger, our new doctor."

Jack shook hands with Joanne, briefly.

Owen hesitated, but eventually admitted, "Joanne knows some of what you've been through, and about your drug problem. She'll be able to help with the withdrawal."

"Owen has told me that you want to come off the drugs quickly," Joanne commented. "But, I have to say, it would be far better for you to do it slowly, using methadone."

Jack interrupted her at that. "No, I've made my mind up," he said flatly.

"Then I think we should sit down and discuss what you should expect," she suggested.

Jack, who had no intention of letting on that he already knew what to expect, intimately, acquiesced.

He, Owen and Joanne then had a long session, where the two doctors warned Jack of all the potential physical effects of the withdrawal, and what could be done to minimise them. It basically came down to suffering through it, as he had many times, though this time there would be people on hand to provide comfort and nursing.

After the session with Joanne, Owen took Jack to meet Mark. Jack nodded politely to the other man, but kept a significant distance between them. He couldn't help dwelling on what Mark had seen of his time on the Valiant. At least, with Joanne, he had been distracted by the talk of withdrawal from heroin.

b_b_b_b_b

Later that day, the whole team, plus Jack, ate dinner together. They had ordered Chinese. In the past, Jack had shovelled down Chinese food like a human hoover. But now he merely picked at the food. Conversation was stilted. Towards the end of the meal, the rift alert sounded, and Owen sent Mark, Gwen and Ianto to deal with it. Tosh escorted Jack back to his room.

When Jack and Tosh had left the room, Joanne was left alone with Owen. "I've been watching Jack through the day," she commented. "Have you noticed how different his reactions to men and women are?"

Owen was surprised. "If you mean that he trusts Tosh more than the rest of us, that's not because she's a woman."

"Maybe not," Joanne continued, "but it's not just Tosh. He reacts differently to you, Ianto and Mark, than he does to Gwen, Tosh and me. It's his body language. It's quite subtle, he might not even be aware of it himself, but have you not noticed that he tries to keep a lot of space between himself, and men. He doesn't do that with the rest of us. And, he tries to disguise it, but he flinches if either you or Ianto touch him.

"It could just be that Ianto and I treated him worse than Gwen and Tosh on the Valiant," Owen pointed out. "There's a lot of history between Jack and Ianto. And you've never done him any harm."

"I think it might be more than that," Joanne continued. "That wouldn't explain his reaction to Mark. I know that, when he was on the Valiant, the Master and his guards abused him. Presumably they were all men?"

"Yes, the only woman he had close contact with was Tish," confirmed Owen. "She helped and comforted him, she never harmed him."

"And, very likely, in Manchester his clients would all be men," Joanne mused. "So, he would be subordinate to them, giving up control to them. It would hardly be surprising if he subconsciously associates men with the potential for harm. He may not normally react like this, but the stress of being kidnapped may have triggered it."

"It makes sense," conceded Owen. "If it is true, what do you suggest that we do about it?"

"Well, I could be wrong, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure that, when he's under a lot of stress, you get Gwen or Tosh, or even me to deal with Jack."

b_b_b_b_b

As Tosh escorted Jack back to his room, and prepared to lock him in, he surprised her with a question.

"Why did Ray let you take me?" Jack asked, quite calmly, though a lot was riding on the answer. His trust in others had so often been betrayed. He had hoped that someone would be worthy of it, and he had given Ray as much trust as he could now give anyone. He did not want to believe that Ray had simply handed him over.

Though Tosh did not understand the ramifications that her answer could have, she did understand that it was important to Jack. "He didn't want to," Tosh answered. "He kicked me and Ianto out, and left people to guard you, but we sneaked back later and knocked them out with tranquilisers."

So Ray had done his best to stand by him. A small smile appeared on Jack's face. Maybe trust wasn't a complete dead loss, after all.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The following day Jack continued to avoid the meaningful conversations, that he could tell his erstwhile friends were keen to have with him. He also ignored Joanne, and Owen's, attempts to find out more about his addiction, and their continued attempts to persuade him to start a methadone program. As the day went on, he could feel the physical need creeping up on him, and, more insidiously, the memories beginning to clamour for his attention.

Tonight was the time that he would, if free, have taken his next hit. Instead, he knew that he would spend the night a physical wreck, shaking, fevered and retching. He hid it from the others for as long as he could. But, as Gwen took him back to his room, to lock him in for the night, he couldn't hold back a groan as stomach cramps seized him.

Although Owen had warned them all what to look out for, it still took Gwen by surprise when Jack groaned and doubled up in pain, clutching at the wall for support. She reached out to support him, and helped him into his room. After she guided Jack over to lie on his bed, she called Owen on the comms. "Owen, it's Gwen. I'm with Jack in his room. I think it's starting."

b_b_b_b_b

Owen had been on tenterhooks for hours, waiting for Jack's withdrawal to manifest itself. He and Joanne had planned to works shifts, monitoring Jack in his room, if things had not started by the time Jack was locked in. Owen had taken Joanne's advice on board, however, and it would be Joanne, Tosh and Gwen who would help Jack through this. Owen would be in the background, available if he was needed. Mark and Ianto were on Torchwood duty, though Ianto had argued vociferously that he should be allowed to look after Jack. He had not taken Owen's refusal well.

Calling Joanne, to let her know she was needed in Jack's room, Owen settled down to keep monitoring the situation via CCTV.

b_b_b_b_b

When Joanne got down to Jack's room, he was doubled over with cramps, and threw up on the floor as she entered. Gwen was hovering over him. Sending her off to fetch a sick bowl, and things to clean up with, Joanne sat on Jack's bed and took his temperature. It was elevated. She also checked his pupils, which were dilated. He was jittery and sweating. "Jack, I'm going to give you an injection of clonidine," she informed him. "It will help alleviate your symptoms. "And this will suppress the diarrhea and vomiting," she added, giving him another shot.

Jack promptly threw up again, this time into the bowl that Gwen had just walked in with.

While Gwen cleaned up the bowl and the floor, Joanne went to fetch another bowl filled with tepid water.

"Jack. Who would you like to stay with you; me or Gwen?" she asked when she returned.

"Neither of you need to stay," Jack pointed out. "I can handle this. Just leave me the bowl."

"We're not going to leave you alone like this," Gwen gasped. "You need someone to look after you."

"Oh come on," Jack responded, with some bitterness. "This is nothing compared to things you let me deal with alone before."

Gwen flushed with shame. "Yes, well we want to be better now."

"You could just kill me," Jack pointed out. "That would fix all this quickly. And, as a bonus, the track marks would go."

"Are you telling us that you kill yourself to get rid of the track marks!" exclaimed Gwen in horror.

Jack had not intended to let that slip, so he backpedaled. "Just joking," he emphasised. And, in an attempt to divert attention from his inadvertent admission, he added, "OK, Gwen can stay."

"Alright," said Joanne, "I'll come back to check on you in a couple of hours. Just call if you need anything in the meantime."

As time went on, Jack became worse. Visibly sweating and wracked with tremors, he paced up and down his room until the stomach cramps brought him to his knees, clutching the bowl. As the physical symptoms peaked, the memories assailed him. He could still push them down, but another day and he would fold under their weight. Why couldn't Torchwood have left him alone? Jack just wanted life to be simple, so he could switch off his brain and move through it without thinking And it had been simple; spread your legs, open your mouth, shoot up.

Gwen did what she could to help Jack through the long torturous hours: giving him water to drink, bathing him to reduce the fever, and cleaning up when he threw up. Joanne visited several times, and Owen monitored them via CCTV.

Eventually, after several hours, Jack began to feel better and things improved. And he did admit to himself that, whatever Joanne had given him, coupled with the nursing care, had made this withdrawal much less traumatic than previous occasions. It would all be futile in the long run though. He just hoped that his plan to escape would work.

b_b_b_b_b

At 3am, Tosh arrived at Jack's room to relieve Gwen.

"He's sleeping at the moment," Gwen whispered. "He's been in quite a bit of pain, but the sickness seems to have passed."

Tosh nodded, and quietly took the chair next to Jack's bed. He was sleeping, but not peacefully. He was moving around fitfully and flashes of pain crossed his face.

"If he gets feverish again, you can sponge him down with this water," Gwen told her. "It seems to help." She then tiptoed out, and headed up to Owen's office to check in before heading home.

b_b_b_b_b

"It's going as well as we could expect," commented Owen.

Owen had been observing what was going on, so Gwen did not need to give him a detailed report. But one thing was bothering her. "Yes, but did you hear what Jack said about track marks?" she asked.

"He said he was joking, Gwen."

"I'm not so sure," she argued. "Jack looked as if he wished he hadn't said it. Do you really think that he could have regularly killed himself to get rid of track marks? What would that say about his mental state?"

Owen looked stricken. "We really need to get a counsellor for him. Jack clearly doesn't want to talk to any of us. But nobody can go through as much trauma as he has, and not be in serious need of help. I hope we can convince him to talk to someone."

"It's not just that," Gwen continued, "but, if he has really been dying regularly, and we know he died in that hospital a month ago, why was he still addicted? Wouldn't that have cured him?"

"I guess he still had the same reasons for taking the drugs as he did when he first started, " Owen answered. "So he just carried on. Hopefully being in a new place, with new people, will help him break out of the pattern."

"We'll all help him as much as we can," stated Gwen earnestly.

"Of course we will," agreed Owen, with a smile, "we all will."

b_b_b_b_b

Th following morning, Tosh and Jack walked into the main part of the Hub.

"Jack," exclaimed Ianto, holding himself back from rushing over to the other man. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Jack replied, forcing himself to smile. "It wasn't as bad as I expected."

Ianto burst into a smile at hearing that. "I'm so glad. Now you can begin a new life."

"I guess so," agreed Jack, keeping up his act.

There was a generally happy atmosphere in the Hub that morning. Everyone, except Jack, felt as if a weight had been lifted off them. Jack was pleased that everyone was beginning to treat him less like a prisoner. His plan was working.

When a major rift alert sounded, Owen took Ianto, Mark and Tosh with him. Joanne was off duty, but Gwen had come back in. He left Gwen to man the Hub, and babysit Jack. Before he left, he pulled Gwen to one side, and gave her strict instructions not to leave Jack on his own, or allow him out of the Hub. "Even if he has turned a corner with the drugs, it's early days yet," he warned.

Gwen nodded in understanding, but in her happiness at Jack having achieved a small step towards his recovery, she couldn't help but subconsciously relax a bit around him. The whole team were the same.

b_b_b_b_b

Gwen was pleased at how easily Jack seemed to have got over the events of the night. All signs of illness seemed to have vanished. He was restless though, wandering around the Hub aimlessly. She watched him from her work station, but as long as she could see, or hear him, she didn't prevent him from wandering around.

Eventually, Jack wandered back to Gwen and said, "Coffee?"

Gwen looked up and smiled. "Sure, I'll make some."

"That's OK," Jack replied. "You have work to do. I'm not completely helpless, so I'll make it."

"That would be great thanks," answered Gwen, and watched as Jack headed off for the kitchen and clattered about.

Five minutes later, Jack appeared with two cups. "Not as good as Ianto's I'm sure, but good enough I hope."

"Thanks, it's great," Gwen assured him as she sipped.

Jack sat down near her, and sipped his own coffee slowly. Gwen continued to work. As Jack watched her, she yawned.

"Gosh, I'm really tired. I guess neither of us got much sleep last night," she commented.

Jack merely nodded in agreement.

A few minutes later, Gwen was practically falling asleep at her desk. Finally realising that something was wrong, she pushed back her chair, and would have fallen to the floor, if Jack hadn't caught her.

"What did you do?" she gasped.

"It's OK Gwen. It's just a sedative, from Owen's stock. You'll sleep for a couple of hours, but it's totally harmless." As he spoke, Jack picked Gwen up and moved over to the sofa, lowering her gently down. "I'm sorry, but I need to get away."

Although Gwen fought against it, trying desperately to move to get to a comm so she could call Owen, unconsciousness soon claimed her.

As soon as he was certain that Gwen was unconscious, Jack headed towards the invisible lift. The Hub was in semi lock down, as it had been since he had been brought there. Codes, which he did not have, were needed to operate any exits. But Jack had built that lift. And no code could keep him from operating it. Pulling off the cover of a panel, he rearranged the wiring to bypass the security, and manually override it. As the lift came down, he glanced around the Hub for what he hoped was the last time.

As he ascended, he felt the need for drugs, that he had been holding desperately at bay for the last several hours, escape from his control. He had to get heroin, and quickly. First money, then one of the seedy areas of Cardiff where he knew drugs could be obtained. He'd have to buy the equipment he needed to prepare the heroin as well, but that shouldn't be a problem Stepping off the slab at the top, he headed quickly for the bank.

b_b_b_b_b

In the surveillance flat, the two UNIT soldiers on duty were monitoring the surveillance cameras. They had come to the conclusion that their assignment was a waste of time, and Jack Harkness would never come within 100 miles of Cardiff. They could barely believe their eyes, therefore, when the camera covering the Plas showed them a man that looked just like Harkness.

"Jesus, Charlie, look!" exclaimed one soldier. "Is that him?"

"Damn right it is," confirmed the other, "I'm not about to forget that piece of ass. He's just come out of their base. How the hell did no one see him go in?"

"Shall we call the Colonel, and get the backup brought in?" Pete asked.

"No need, he's alone. The four of us can deal with him. Just think of the brownie points that this will get us." Charlie reached for the communications, and alerted the other two members of their team. "We'll follow him, and wait until he's out of public view, then grab him. With four of us we can keep tabs on him without getting too close. It's very important that he doesn't see us. I'm sure he remembers all of us really well," he added with a leer.

b_b_b_b_b

Jack knew that he only had a couple of hours before Gwen regained consciousness, and alerted the rest of Torchwood to his escape. And that time could be significantly shorter, if the rift alert turned out not to be serious. He needed to be in and out of the bank, and holed up somewhere out of sight, with his drugs, before that happened.

In his haste, and his agitated state, he never noticed the UNIT men tailing him.

He took the maximum amount out of his account that the bank were willing to give him in cash, £2000, and headed to Splott.

b_b_b_b_b

The UNIT soldiers traded off positions, while tailing Jack, so there was never one person following for a significant length of time. It seemed to be working. Harkness was totally oblivious. The crowded shopping centre was working both for, and against, them. They were less likely to be spotted, but they couldn't make a move on him until there were no witnesses. This was not a legal arrest.

They watched him go to the bank, and then followed as he walked to Splott. Charlie sent one of the men back to fetch their transit van. They would need it to move Harkness, when they had him, and they could radio to let the driver know their location when they needed him. They watched as Harkness negotiated with an obvious drug dealer, and handed over a stack of money. The dealer and Harkness headed towards a run down doss-house, and went inside. A few minutes later the dealer came out, but Harkness did not.

"That's it," Charlie exclaimed with glee. "It's perfect. He's still hooked, and he's going to shoot up. If we wait ten minutes, we can go in there and grab him without a fight."

"What about the other people in the house?" asked Pete.

"They'll all be stoned, " answered Charlie dismissively. "And I doubt that any that aren't are going to argue with three armed men."

b_b_b_b_b

About an hour after Jack had left the Hub, the team returned from the alert. The major incident had turned out to be some sort of alien music system, that had fallen through the rift while belting out the Alpha Centauri equivalent of Top Of The Pops.

As they walked back into the Hub, they spotted Gwen asleep on the sofa.

"What the hell?" cried Ianto. "Where's Jack?"

Owen hurried over to check Gwen, and was relieved to find that she was merely in a deep sleep and had not been harmed. "Jack must have done this," he exclaimed, "but Gwen's OK," he assured the others. "Dammit, I told her to watch him!"

"You don't think he's looking for drugs do you?" asked Tosh in distress.

"I guess it's possible that he was just desperate to get away from us," Owen answered, "but I wouldn't bet against the drugs."

Ianto was horrified. The idea that Jack would throw away all the progress he had made, in withdrawing from the drugs, by going straight back on them was heartbreaking. "We have to find him and stop him."

"Tosh, get a trace on him. I want to know where he is, and hurry," Owen ordered.

Tosh had the location of the tracer pinned down in less than five minutes. "He's in Splott. And he's not moving."

"Right, everyone come on," ordered Owen. "Let's get after Jack. We'll call Joanne on the way. She can come in and look after Gwen."

b_b_b_b_b

In the doss-house Jack was taut with anticipation, heart thumping, as he prepared the heroin. He was in a filthy room, with a couple of mattresses on the floor. He was currently the only occupant. The flashes of memory were getting stronger, and more difficult to banish. He could barely contain his need. The heroin seemed to take forever to dissolve, but finally it was ready. He drew up the liquid into a syringe, and put it gently down, while he tied a cord around his upper arm. He was about to pick up the syringe to inject, when the door burst open and three armed men stormed into the room.

Seeing that they had arrived just too soon, the UNIT soldiers converged on Jack and forced him face down on the floor. Jack recognised the men instantly. All three were guards from the UNIT prison. Panicking, he fought back fiercely, and managed to throw the two men holding him down, off. But the third hit him across the head with his gun, stunning him enough that the other two regained control of him.

When everyone was still again, Charlie held his gun to Jack's head. "Hello again, Princess," he sneered. "Remember us?"

"Why are you doing this?" Jack gasped. "I've been pardoned. I'm not wanted by UNIT anymore."

"We're not here on official business. You managed to upset some of the higher ups. They want you out of the way. So they have a little holiday planned for you, by the sea."

"What do you mean?" growled Jack.

"Oh, did I say by the sea? I meant in the sea. The plan is to weigh you down, and drop you so far offshore you'll never be found."

The true horror of what they had planned hit Jack like a ton of bricks. He had spent a year dying on the Valiant, and he had a very good idea of what drowning over and over would be like. And it would be never ending.

"That's inhuman, why would you do this?" he pleaded.

"That doesn't matter," Charlie purred in Jack's ear. "What matters now is that you are going to carry on with what you were doing. That way we won't have any trouble, will we?" He pulled Jack up into a sitting position, and handed him the syringe. Pressing the barrel of his gun to Jack's forehead, he whispered, "Go ahead, you know you want to. And, if you don't, I'll shoot you and do it myself."

Five minutes earlier, Jack would not have believed that anything could make him not want to take his fix. But he knew that, once he did, he would be helpless, unable to avoid any fate that these UNIT renegades had planned for him. But he had no choice. They could easily inject him if he were dead, and the result would be the same. Reluctantly, he raised the syringe and moved it towards his arm.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short update this time.

As the Torchwood team drove at full speed towards Splott, Tosh kept her eye on Jack's location. She pulled up a magnified map, showing the part of Splott where Jack was. “It's the drug district,” she informed them sadly. “Jack would know that he could buy drugs there.”

The rest of the team absorbed that in silence. Ianto and Owen were looking grim.

“At least he's staying put,” Tosh pointed out, looking on the bright side. “We'll be there in five minutes.”

Minutes later, the SUV pulled up outside a run down doss-house. Tosh checked her laptop. “He's in there,” she said. “First floor, back of the house.”

“Do you want me to stay with the SUV?” asked Mark.

“Yes, that's a good idea,” Owen agreed. “There's no need for us to show up mob handed. That would just spook Jack even more.”

That agreed, Ianto, Tosh and Owen headed for the house. The front door was unlocked, and no one was in sight inside. The men followed Tosh up the stairs. Part way up, they heard the sound of a fight. Hurrying, they reached the first floor, where they could immediately see that a door had been kicked in. The sound of a struggle was still going on.

“Shit, is that where Jack is?” demanded Owen.

“Yes,” Tosh answered, with dread.

Pushing past her, Ianto and Owen drew their guns and, taking one side of the door each, burst into the room. They were met with the sight of a man pressing a gun to Jack's forehead, and Jack about to inject the contents of a syringe into his arm. Two other men were standing back, watching. Though not in uniform, they all looked military. This clearly was not just a drug deal gone bad.

As they burst in, the two soldiers closest to the door drew their own guns. Ianto and Owen did not hesitate. They shot to kill, but not before one of the soldiers got a shot off. Owen felt a burning sensation along his arm, as the bullet grazed him.

As the Torchwood team burst into the room, Charlie swung around instinctively, removing his gun from Jack's forehead. Jack could see that he was about to shoot at Ianto. Acting instantly, he attacked Charlie with the best weapon he had; the syringe. As he stuck the needle into Charlie's thigh, he jammed the plunger down and emptied all the contents of the syringe into his leg.

Charlie only had a couple of seconds to register what had happened, before he fell to the floor, convulsing and fitting. Jack, and the team, watched him thrash on the floor. In less than a minute his breathing stuttered and ceased.

Mark had heard the gunshots from the street and, as silence fell in the room, he burst through the door, gun drawn. Seeing that the only casualties were strangers, and no threat remained, he holstered his gun and demanded “What the hell just happened?”

Tosh shushed him and moved over to Jack, who had not moved from the position he had been held in at gunpoint. He was rigid, and seemed to be in shock.

Ianto also approached Jack tentatively. “Jack,” he whispered. “It's OK, they've been dealt with. Whatever they were trying to do, there's no threat now.”

Jack's thoughts were whirling. He could barely believe what UNIT had been planning to do to him. The horror of it was overwhelming. To die and revive endlessly, for decades or centuries, with no hope of rescue. And drowning was not a good death. And, if he had been slightly quicker with his fix, UNIT might have found him totally helpless. But Torchwood had come. Ianto and Tosh and Owen had saved him from that. They had killed for him. And killed UNIT personnel. Gratitude flooded him. He would never forget this. The barrier of bitterness and distrust, that he had built up towards the Torchwood team over the years, began to soften. If they would do this for him, perhaps he could trust them enough to help him in other ways. And he would need it. He hadn't had a fix. Things would go downhill very soon.

Ianto and Tosh, seeing Jack's distress, leaned in to hug him. And to their surprise he let them.

Owen was kneeling by the body of the soldier that Jack had killed. “That was a massive overdose,” he explained to Mark. “Even half a gram would be enough to kill a non user. With Jack's dose, he'd have had no chance.”

Mark checked the other two bodies, just to verify that they were indeed dead. “I can organise the cleanup, if you want to get back to the Hub,” he offered.

Owen nodded gratefully. He needed to get Jack back to the Hub, and treat his own arm. Seeing Tosh and Ianto with Jack, he went over to them. “Jack, do you know who they were, or why they attacked you?”

Jack looked up at him, focusing for the first time. “They are UNIT soldiers. But I don't know why they were doing this. They said I'd upset someone.”

Owen was stunned by the revelation that the men were UNIT, but he didn't want to pursue it while Jack appeared so fragile. He also didn't think it was the time to start demanding answers, as to why Jack had run off to look for drugs.

With Tosh and Ianto's encouragement, Jack stood, and went out of the house. Just before he got in the SUV, he gave them the first genuine smile since they had found him in Manchester. “Thank you,” he said, and meant it.


	18. Chapter 18

Jack sat in the back of the SUV, between Tosh and Ianto. An hour before, he would have felt trapped to be in this situation, but now he felt protected. Protected from UNIT at least, if not from the demons in his own mind. He leaned his head back, and absorbed the unfamiliar feeling. But he knew it would not last. He could already feel the memories welling up. Any hope of delaying the pull of the drugs, had been lost when he got so close to his goal. 

The journey back to the Hub was short and quiet. Jack was grateful that the others did not start demanding answers immediately. 

* * * * 

Back inside the Hub, Owen headed to the medical bay to sort his arm out. Gwen was there, looking groggy, Joanne standing by her side. Mark had contacted them from the doss-house, letting them know what had happened, and that the others were on their way back. 

Tosh, Ianto and Jack followed Owen into the room. Seeing Gwen, Jack blushed with shame. He walked up to her hesitantly. “I'm sorry Gwen. I hope you are OK now.”

Gwen looked at him sadly. “I'm fine Jack, no harm done. But why did you do it? What possessed you to go out looking for drugs?”

It was the question he'd been expecting, and all the team were gazing at him, waiting for his reply. He thought about making up a lie; that he hadn't been looking for drugs, but had been forced to the drug den by the UNIT men. But how would that help in the long run? He knew he needed help. He couldn't go on making himself vulnerable, and helpless, by using heroin. He had to kick it, and he knew from bitter experience that he wasn't capable of doing that on his own. 

The team had proven to him, today, that they were on his side, and would go to extremes to protect him. He should trust them with this. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to speak. “I'm still addicted, I can't cope without heroin and I'm heading for a major crash if I don't get any.”

This announcement was met with stunned disbelief. 

“But, how can you be?” stuttered Gwen. “You went through withdrawal. We all saw.”

“There can be significant cravings after physical withdrawal, Gwen,” Owen pointed out. “But they are usually a lot less debilitating than the withdrawal itself.”

“Not for me,” Jack admitted. “The part after physical withdrawal is a thousand times worse than that.” 

“That doesn't make any sense,” Owen mused aloud. “Does it Joanne?” he asked. 

“It's certainly not the usual pattern,” Joanne agreed. She turned to Jack. “You've obviously gone through this before. Tell us exactly what happens.”

Having made the decision to admit he couldn't cope, and ask for help, Jack was totally honest. “I can cope for a day or so after the physical withdrawal, but then memories start crowding into my mind, and as time goes on they become more and more vivid. The only thing that stops them is the heroin. Eventually it gets so bad that I'll do anything for a hit. And I mean anything.” He shuddered, remembering what he had done in the past. 

The others were understandable horrified by this, as they knew only too well the type of memories that might plague Jack. 

“Have you tried to get past it, without taking anything?” Tosh asked.

“Oh, yes,” Jack answered bitterly, thinking of the endless times, in the UNIT prison, that he had been forced to betray Torchwood's secrets, or sell himself for a hit. “I just couldn't do it.” And that couldn't continue, he knew. He had practically handed himself over to UNIT on a plate because of his addiction. 

Tosh moved close to him, and put her arm around him gently, ready to let go if he gave any hint of unease. 

“I want to kick it, but I need help,” Jack blurted out. “Will you help me?” he looked around desperately at the team. 

“Oh Jack, of course we'll do everything we can to help you,” promised Ianto, the rest of the team adding their reassurances to his.

“OK,” Owen started, “Gwen, go home and get some rest,. Come back in for the night shift. Joanne, go sleep in the bunker, we'll need a doctor on duty round the clock, and the other on call. We'll take turns. I'll sleep there later.”

Gwen was about to argue that she didn't want to leave Jack, but she could see that someone had to be ready for the night shift. So she held her tongue, and with a farewell smile to Jack, headed off home. 

* * * * 

The UNIT soldier, who had been sent to fetch the van, arrived at the street where the doss-house was situated, just as the Torchwood SUV pulled away. They passed right by him, and he saw Harkness in the SUV with the others. “Fucking hell!” he exclaimed. The mission had clearly gone belly up, and the higher ups were going to be totally pissed with the team that let it happen. They had been under orders to call for backup, the instant Harkness was sighted. But they hadn't done so, as he was alone, and they wanted the credit for catching him. They were in deep shit. 

Parking the van, the soldier approached the address where he'd been told to pick Harkness up. He needed to find the others, and find out what the hell had gone wrong. Since three of the Torchwood team had been in the SUV, there probably weren't many of them left here. Entering the house cautiously, he crept up the stairs, ready to act as a junkie looking for a fix if he ran into trouble. 

Reaching the first landing, he got a glimpse into a room with the door kicked in. It was all he needed. His mates lay dead, and one of the Torchwood team was going through their pockets. Backing away quietly, he left the house, got in the van, and got the hell out of there.

* * * * * 

Jack had headed off to his room to rest, while Owen and Joanne combed medical journals on the internet, looking for heroin withdrawal symptoms similar to Jack's. They were having no success. No one had recorded symptoms as strong, and of the type, Jack described. The two doctors were at a loss. The only thing that they could come up with was using methadone, as they had intended to previously. Methadone acted to help the physical and psychological effects of heroin addiction, so should help Jack with the psychological aspect that he still suffered. Of course it would physically addict him to methadone, which was bad news, but Jack seemed far less worried by physical addiction. 

* * * * * 

While the doctors were searching the medical journals, Mark checked in. The cleanup crew had removed the bodies, and would simulate a car crash responsible for killing all three men. The coroner would turn a blind eye to the bullet holes in their car crash victims, and definitely not order a tox screen on any of the bodies.

Mark had thoroughly searched each man, and found a complete absence of ID or any personal items, other than a key. The key was typical of thousands of keys to flats and houses, and had no distinguishing marks. Their weapons were not standard issue for any military or police organisation. So, no clues to who, or what, the men were, or where they were staying. It looked as if they'd have to take Harkness's word that they were UNIT personnel, at least for the moment. 

What worried him particularly, was the speed with which Harkness had been picked up, after leaving the Hub. He'd obviously been targeted specifically. The men must have been watching the Hub. But why, from where, and for how long? He would need to comb the area for hidden surveillance equipment when he got back to base. 

* * * * * 

Tosh and Ianto sat in Jack's room with him, while they waited for Owen and Joanne. Watching him closely, they could see him flinching minutely, though he was trying to hide it. 

“Are you getting flashbacks now?” Ianto asked him with concern. 

“Yes,” Jack admitted, “they started even before I left the Hub. They're getting much more frequent now, and more real.”

“And they originally started when you got addicted to heroin?” Tosh asked. “You never got them before that?”

“Well, I obviously had a lot of bad memories before that,” Jack answered wryly, “but I never relived them in my head, as if they were real and happening right there and then.” His voice broke. “I can't deal with it. I want to forget the Valiant, and everything that came after it, or at least bury it so far down in my mind that I can ignore it. But I can't, and it's driving me insane!”

Guilt shot through Ianto. He wished desperately that he could make things right for Jack. “What about retcon?” he suggested. “Perhaps if you took enough to wipe out the last four years, that would remove your need for heroin.”

Jack laughed bitterly. “Don't think I hadn't thought of that.” He broke off suddenly, with a gasp that had nothing to do with the present, then continued. “No, retcon doesn't work properly on me. It can wipe out a couple of days, but, within an hour, it wears off and I remember again. My only chance would have been to get off the Valiant before time reset, but I wasn't allowed to.” And that burned bitterly in his psyche. He could have been washed clean of all this agony. But no, no redemption for the Master's lackey.

Jack leaped off the bed suddenly, and started pacing. “Tosh, can you fetch Owen? Tell him I need something now.” As he spoke, his pacing became more frantic and he clenched his hands into fists. 

Hearing the desperation tinging his voice, Tosh rushed off immediately. It only took five minutes for her to return with Owen and Joanne. They brought methadone tablets with them. 

“We have to be honest with you, Jack,” Owen started, “you seem to be a unique case. We haven't found any record of this type of psychological withdrawal. But methadone has helped heroin users with psychological addiction before, so we can hope that it works for you.” He paused, and then added seriously, “but be aware that there are no guarantees.”

Having made up his mind to try to kick the heroin, Jack was not going to be deterred. He nodded brusquely and snapped “Let's just get on with it.” Taking the pill that Joanne handed him, he swallowed it down dry. 

* * * * 

When Mark got back to the Hub, he parked the SUV in the garage, and proceeded to systematically search for hidden cameras or listening devices. He found two cameras. They were tiny. No one, not specifically looking for them, would ever have noticed them. He cursed silently, wondering how long they had been watched. It could be UNIT. They were one of the few organisations that would have such sophisticated, miniaturised equipment. But why on Earth would they target Harkness, after he had been pardoned. It just didn't make sense. 

If someone was watching this entrance, it was very likely that there was surveillance in the Plas also. He walked to the square and searched, but found nothing. Looking up towards the buildings overlooking the square, however, it was clear that there were many places from which the Hub could have been watched. Nothing was obvious, but they would need to follow it up as soon as possible. 

Sighing, Mark headed down into the Hub to report to Owen.

* * * * * 

Two hours after Jack had taken the methadone, he was still pacing frantically. Tosh was with him, Owen having belatedly remembered Joanne's advice, about women dealing with Jack when he was stressed. 

Jack paced about the room, muttering. “It's done, I finally finished building it. But I can't use it yet.” He looked agonised as he said that. “I have to wait, but, oh god, I don't want to. I want this to be over.” He fell silent for a moment, then started muttering again. “No. Have to wait for the right time. Have to wait. Have to wait.” 

Tosh watched as Jack became more and more agitated. For most of the time he had paced silently, though flinching and occasionally gasping with pain. He had been holding his head in his hands, and yanking his hair. This was the first time that Jack had given a running commentary, as he relived a memory. She was grateful that, whatever this memory was, it was not one where Jack was with the Master. Despite that, Jack's next words hit her like a sledgehammer. 

“Have to wait to knock out the Toclafane.”

Tosh was stunned. She knew, of course, that someone had knocked out the Toclafane on the Valiant. But neither the EMP machine, nor the person who used it, had ever been found. It had been assumed that that person had been evacuated, and no longer remembered their crucial part in defeating the Master. But, if that person had been Jack, why hadn't he said anything. Surely it could have changed the whole outcome of his trial. No one would have countenanced locking up the man who had saved everyone!

She was jerked out of her reverie by Jack, who suddenly yelled. “It's not working. You have to help me.”

It took Tosh a moment to realise that Jack was speaking to her, in the present, not reacting to a memory. He seized her by the arms in a bruising grip, and practically shook her.

“Please, you need to give me a fix,” he pleaded. “I have to have something The methadone is doing nothing!” 

“Jack, let go. Please Jack, you're hurting me,” Tosh begged. 

Jack let go as if scalded. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that,” he whispered. He backed away. “Get out of here, and keep away from me! But tell Owen I need something.”

Tosh nodded and left, the room gratefully. 

* * * * * 

Tosh rushed up to Owen's office. “Owen! You need to do something. Jack's getting worse. Shouldn't the methadone have kicked in by now?”

Owen had seen what had happened on the CCTV. He looked worried. “I thought it would have,” he admitted. “Maybe we just have to give it more time.”

“But what about Jack?” argued Tosh.

Trying to be positive for Tosh, Owen answered, “There were bound to be some traumatic times, like there were during his physical withdrawal. Jack's strong. He coped with the Master, this won't be anywhere as bad as that.” 

'Coped with the Master,' was not the phrase Tosh would have used to describe Jack's experience on the Valiant, but she understood what Owen meant. “We can't leave him down there alone. I'd better go back,” Tosh replied.

“No. I saw what happened. In his current state, Jack might lash out and hurt you. I'll go down and reassure him, but then I think we should keep watch at a distance, on the CCTV.” He turned to go, then remembered Mark. “Tosh, can you go help Mark hack into UNIT files. He has photos of the guys who grabbed Jack. We need to verify if they really were guards from his prison.”

Tosh looked doubtful but said “OK, if you're going down to look after Jack.” She waited for Owen's assent before she went to look for Mark. 

* * * * 

At UNIT HQ, Colonel Oduya stormed down the corridor towards Major Stamford's office. He walked in, without knocking, and slammed the door behind him; though not without checking that it was firmly closed, before he started speaking. 

“I just heard from the incompetent fools that we left watching Torchwood. They found Harkness, but, instead of calling in the retrieval team, they decided to catch him themselves. Needless to say, Torchwood have snatched him back, and will now be on alert for any further attempts. They have him in the Hub now, and God knows what he's telling them.” He paused in his rant, long enough to register that Stamford had gone pale. 

“No one outside the UK will care what happened to a convicted murderer, and traitor. I am leaving on an overseas assignment today,” Oduya announced. “A last minute arrangement. I suggest that you do the same.”

* * * * * 

After Owen spoke with him, Jack reluctantly agreed to wait for a while, before assuming that the methadone wasn't going to work. Since that time, he had remained locked in his room, alone (at his own request). The others monitored him on the CCTV. 

What they saw was grim. Jack was on a downward spiral, getting more and more desperate. Episodes of pleading for heroin, to the empty room, were interspersed with what were obviously memories replaying in his mind. He would speak to an unseen person, usually the Master, and then end up screaming in pain. 

That was just the beginning. None of them had understood the true horror this withdrawal would entail. They watched, aghast, as Jack descended into hell. 

After another hour, Jack started banging his head on the wall and clawing his arms, leaving long red furrows where he had torn his own flesh. He was practically incoherent, pleading and begging for someone to stop. They could all make a good guess as to who. 

It was the last straw for Ianto. He couldn't leave Jack alone with his agony any longer. He looked at Owen fiercely. “I don't care what you say, I'm going down there now. Jack needs someone with him. Even if all I can do is stop him hurting himself.”

Owen shook his head. “The state he's in, he could seriously hurt you. We need to do something else. Just let me think for a moment.”

“I don't care,” retorted Ianto. “This is our fault, and we need to do whatever we can to help him. Do you think that Jack would hesitate to help us!” He ran out of the room, and no one made a move to stop him. 

* * * * * *

Jack heard Ianto enter the room, and span around. Ianto could see desperation, tinged with relief, in Jack's eyes as he looked at him, though there was no recognition.

With no hesitation, Jack strode towards Ianto and, in a move that took him totally by surprise, he knelt down in front of him and unzipped his trousers. He had Ianto's cock in his mouth before the other man even realised what was happening.

“Jack, no, what are you doing!” exclaimed Ianto, with a strangled gasp.

Jack ignored him, and carried on licking and sucking. Despite himself, Ianto's body reacted and he hardened. By now Jack was deep throating Ianto, who was still trying to push him off.

Seeing what was happening, Owen ran down from his office, to Jack's room. He shouted for Mark on the way. Together they burst into Jack's room and pulled him off Ianto.

Ianto stepped back, legs shaking, partly from arousal, it was Jack after all, and partly from the shock. He adjusted his clothing quickly.

“Why the hell would he do that?” Owen asked, in dismay.

“Don't go,” pleaded Jack as he was held between Owen and Mark. He was practically sobbing. “I will do whatever you want, you know that. Or tell Major Stamford I'll tell him anything he wants to know. Please, you have to give me a fix.”

“Let's get him to the medical bay,” Owen ordered. 

* * * * 

Jack lay on the gurney, panting and straining against the restraints. He was going to have bad bruising on his wrists and ankles. Suddenly he stopped struggling, as he fell back into his own mind. They could hear him muttering, pleading for forgiveness and for another chance. But they couldn't make out exactly what he said until he cried “No! Burn me.”

Owen practically had heart failure on hearing him. “Oh god, no. Not that. Anything but that!”

Ianto looked at him in confusion.

Owen waited, ashen faced in horror, for what he feared would come next. He wasn't wrong.

After a few moments, Jack started to scream. The screams of someone in unutterable torment. It went on and on, as Jack convulsed and writhed on the table.

Owen trembled with emotion, as Jack burned for him again.

At that point Joanne ran in the door. She had heard the commotion from the bunker, and thought she might be needed. She looked around the room, seeing the horror on Owen and Ianto's faces. Even Mark was looking pale.

Tosh was beside herself. Tears streaming down her face, she turned to Owen. “ Do something,” she begged, “you can't leave him like this. For gods sake, give him the heroin!”

Owen was in almost as bad a state as Tosh. “I can't,” he cried. “It's dangerous to mix heroin and methadone, and with the methadone in his system it probably wouldn't even work.”

“How long before you can give it to him?” Ianto demanded.

“The half life of methadone is 22 hours,” Owen stammered. “It's been 6 hours since we gave it to him. It'll be another 16 hours before I'd dare give him heroin.” 

“Jack can't deal with another 16 hours of this,” shouted Ianto. “Didn't you have a backup plan in case the methadone didn't work?”

With a final shriek of utter agony, Jack fell mercifully unconscious.

The team fell briefly silent also. They were all shell shocked, but Owen was practically hyperventilating. 

Seeing Owen's distress, Joanne answered Ianto. “We never expected it to get this bad, this quickly. We thought we would have the fall back plan of giving him heroin after 24 hours.” She turned to Owen. “We could give him Nalaxone to counteract the methadone.” 

Owen pulled himself together as much as he could. “No, the Nalaxone would interfere if we tried to give him heroin, so we'd be no better off.” He looked around the room. “I take it no one is of the opinion that we don't give him the heroin?” 

“Hell no, “ snapped Ianto. “No one could kick heroin if they had to go through that. I can barely believe that Jack tried to do it on his own before.”

“It explains why he was so desperate to get away from us, and find a dealer,” Tosh put in.

“Right, so we're all in agreement. We give Jack heroin as soon as we can, and think again about how to tackle the addiction,” Joanne summarised. 

They all nodded. 

“But what are we going to do for the next 16 hours,” Tosh asked. 

Jack was stirring again, and beginning to murmur.

“We need to sedate him,” Owen declared. “But we can't load him up with sedatives for the whole16 hours. We need another way.” 

“What about that device that came through the rift last year,” suggested Joanne suddenly. “ The one that induced unconsciousness with zeta waves. It's totally harmless even if used for days, and it couldn't possibly interfere with giving him the heroin.”

“I know it,” interjected Ianto. “I know exactly where it is.” He rushed off to find it, glad to be doing something, however small, to spare Jack further pain.

By the time he got back, Jack was in the throes of another memory. He was saying over and over, “Ask Stevens and Modine, they know.” Ianto was grateful that it was nothing worse. 

* * * * * 

Later in the evening, the team, minus Joanne, met in the boardroom. Gwen had returned for the night shift, and had been filled in on what had happened in her absence. Jack was back in his own room, unrestrained and unconscious. A drip to keep him hydrated trailed from his arm. Joanne sat in the chair next to him, listening to the meeting via her comm. 

“Well,” Owen began, “I think we all agree that, that did not go in any way as planned. None of us understood what effect heroin withdrawal would have on Jack.” He swallowed, shuddering, but forced himself to be businesslike. “At this point we don't have any option, except to keep him unconscious until the methadone has dissipated. I suggest that we then wake him, to check if he has got past the withdrawal. It's unlikely, but it would be foolish to give him heroin without checking. Assuming that he's still in the same, manic, state, we give him heroin. Hopefully this will get him back to his previous, addicted, but functional state. We can then discuss ways forward with Jack, and see what he wants to do.”

They all agreed. No one wanted Jack to suffer again, as he had done that day. 

Owen was about to finish the meeting, and send people home to get some much needed sleep, when Tosh shocked them all by stating bluntly. “I think Jack built the EMP device that disabled the Toclafane, and let General Ingham's men defeat the Master.”

Ianto was astounded. “He can't have,” he insisted, “he would have said something. Why would he keep quiet about something like that?” 

“I don't know, Ianto, but the way he was talking during one of his memories, it really sounded like he was talking about the EMP device. You can check what he said on the CCTV recording.”

Ianto's heart lurched suddenly, as he remembered something Jack had said when he was being taken off the Valiant. “He said he helped the resistance,” he whispered. “Do you remember? When he was being transferred off the Valiant.” He shook his head in despair. “And we all just ignored him.”

“I may have misunderstood,” said Tosh, “and he surely would have mentioned it at his trial, if it is true.”

“We can ask him when he wakes up,” Gwen suggested. “He wouldn't have any reason to keep it secret if he did build it.”

“OK”, we'll do that,” agreed Owen. “Now, before we finish, does anyone else have any bombshells to share?”

“There is something that's worrying me,” Ianto admitted. “Do you remember what Jack said, after he accosted me in his room. He said that he'd tell Major Stamford anything he wanted to know, in exchange for a fix. Who the hell is Major Stamford, and why would Jack have needed to bargain with him for a fix?”

 


	19. Chapter 19

After Tosh, Ianto and Mark left for home, Owen headed down to the bunker to sleep. Joanne would monitor Jack, while catching up with her regular Torchwood work. Gwen was taking over from Mark and Tosh, in searching the UNIT staff database, trying to find the identity of the three men who had attacked Jack. She was very grateful that, before he became incoherent, Jack had said that the men had been guards at his prison. It cut down the databases she needed to search by a huge factor. It was a shame that he hadn't said which prison he was at, though. She had never realised before, just how many secure facilities UNIT had in the UK. Skipping those that Mark and Tosh had already covered, Gwen opened a separate computer window with photos of the dead men, and started her search. 

 

Three hours and four cups of coffee later, Gwen found the first man. He was one of the privates on staff at the UNIT high security facility in Cumbria. Finding the other two was simple after that. All three were assigned to that prison. 

 

Bringing all three personnel files up on the computer, Gwen called Joanne over, to double check her identification. They both agreed, but decided to leave it until morning to inform Owen. 

 

* * * * 

 

Joanne checked on Jack, several times through the night. The alien device seemed to be working perfectly. Jack was unconscious and peaceful. 

 

At 3am Mark arrived to relieve Gwen, and work the remainder of the night. Still worrying about the surveillance the Hub had been under, he was checking estate agency records of all the rented flats that overlooked the Plas. He found two which had been rented in the few days after Jack had been pardoned. Following up the people who had signed the leases, he found that one checked out as perfectly normal; an accountant, single, in his late 20s. Independent sources confirmed the information. But, for the other flat, there were no records of the man who had rented it. It was a fictitious identity. 

 

* * * * 

 

At 8am the next morning, Ianto and Tosh came back in. Owen had relieved Joanne earlier, and she was now down in the bunker.

 

They met in the boardroom. “Gwen found the men,” Owen informed them. “All three were assigned to the UNIT facility in Cumbria.”

 

“So Jack was right,” exclaimed Ianto. “UNIT really were after him.” 

 

“But why?” asked Tosh. “UNIT are bastards, but even they have to honour a Royal Pardon.”

 

“Apparently someone in UNIT doesn't think so,” commented Owen. 

 

“Do you think this Major Stamford is from UNIT?” asked Ianto. 

 

“I checked this morning,” Owen told him. “There are four Major Stamfords currently active in the British forces. One is attached to UNIT, but not to the prison where Jack was.” 

 

“So it's possible then,” commented Mark. 

 

“Yes,” Owen agreed, “but we can't tell without more information. He could just have been one of Jack's clients in Manchester.”

 

“We could ask Jack when he wakes up,” Tosh suggested. 

 

“I don't think he'd tell us,” Ianto put in. “He's been very close mouthed about everything, and who can blame him. He may well tell us about the EMP if we ask, but there was obviously some trauma associated with his dealings with this Major Stamford. He probably won't want to tell us about it. I think he is beginning to trust us again, but we've still got a long way to go. Just look at how hard he found it to tell us about the drugs.”

 

“There is someone we could ask,” Owen mused aloud. “The guy who gave us the DVDs. He was at the prison with Jack. He might have some information that would help explain all this.”

 

“Yes, but he didn't give his name, and he may well not be willing to talk to you again,” Mark pointed out. “And you don't want to out him to UNIT as the whistle blower.”

 

“I might recognise him, if I saw his photo,” Owen answered, ignoring the potential problems that Mark had highlighted. “And we know which prison Jack was kept in now, so I might be able to pick him out from their personnel roster.” 

 

* * * * 

 

At his first opportunity, Mark had, with Owen's authorisation, got the key for the suspicious flat from the estate agents. He and Ianto now stood at the door, guns drawn. Unlocking the door quietly, they pushed the door open suddenly, and burst in. There was no reaction. The flat was empty. In fact, it had been cleared out. There was no furniture, and the only thing left was an ashtray full of cigarette butts. 

 

* * * * 

 

Owen spent an hour looking through the UNIT personnel files, that Tosh had hacked into. He was going cross eyed, gazing at each soldier in turn. “You know all soldiers look alike,” he groused to Tosh. “It's the haircut.”

 

“I think Gwen, Mark and I would agree with you,” Tosh smiled. “We've looked through a lot more files than you have.”

 

Eventually, Owen leaned back and said flatly, “It's no good. He's not here. I've gone through them three times, and I'm certain.” His disappointment was palpable.

 

Tosh was also very disappointed, but then a thought struck her. “Wait a minute,” she cried. “Is that the current personnel file?”

 

Owen nodded.

 

“Well, why don't you check for personnel who were there when Jack was, but have since been reassigned?”

 

“Tosh, you're brilliant,” exclaimed Owen. Half an hour later, he suddenly tensed at his terminal and shouted, “That's him, at least I think it is. He's John Peterson, currently assigned to UNIT's base in Trowbridge, but before that he was assigned to the high security prison in Cumbria.

 

“Right, we need to get in touch with him, without doing anything that would incriminate him,” Owen declared, leaping up and clapping his hands. “I think this is a job for you and Gwen.”

 

 

* * * * 

 

After returning to the Hub, Ianto went to visit Jack. He was now sitting with him, in his room, worrying. Jack was peacefully asleep, much to his relief. He didn't think he could have coped with seeing Jack continue to suffer the horror he had been going through. Thank god for alien tech. But what would happen when they woke Jack? It was too much to hope for; that Jack would have passed through the trauma, by the time he awoke. And that meant that they would have to give him more heroin. 

 

The whole team were painfully aware of the indescribably traumatic nature of Jack's memories, and the sheer number of them. Ianto didn't have to be a doctor to figure out that, if Jack could not kick heroin because withdrawal triggered horrendous memories, then they needed to help Jack deal with his memories before they could help with his heroin addiction. Owen had said, right from the start, when he suggested a methadone program, that Jack should receive counselling In hindsight, knowing what Jack had gone through on the Valiant, he should have been given counselling as soon as the Master was defeated. But instead, he had been reviled, and treated as a traitor, by the very people he should have been able to count on for help. Jack had never had the chance to heal, even a little, after the trauma with the Master. And it had led to this. 

 

As he mused, Ianto was searching on his laptop. He was looking in Torchwood secure files, for information on the therapist who had dealt with the Torchwood 1 survivors. Along with the other survivors, Ianto had been offered therapy. If he was honest with himself, he had needed it. But he had declined, as his whole existence, then, had been focused on saving Lisa. Opening himself up to a therapist, was not compatible with all the secrets he had needed to keep. 

 

Jack couldn't have just any therapist. The nature of the trauma, and the circumstances in which it occurred, meant that someone who knew of the nature of Torchwood's work was required. They would believe in a timeline that had been reversed, and what had happened during that time. If Jack was willing, this therapist would be ideal. 

 

* * * *

 

When she arrived at the Hub for her afternoon shift. Gwen was surprised to find herself, and Tosh, preparing to head off to Trowbridge, undercover Since Torchwood now knew that UNIT soldiers had been watching them, probably for months, they were taking precautions. Even though it was unlikely that any of those soldiers would be in Trowbridge, they didn't want to be recognised. Both women were disguised, and wearing sexy clothes that Ianto had somehow acquired. Their own families would not have recognised them. It was the first time that Gwen had been blonde.

 

It was only a one and a half hour drive to Trowbridge from Cardiff, so Tosh and Gwen arrived there at about 5pm. They checked into a hotel, as they expected to be there overnight. Then they headed for the pub nearest the UNIT base, where off duty soldiers would hang out. Ordering drinks, they sipped slowly, and checked out every patron who came in. The clients were almost exclusively male soldiers.

 

“I hope Mark's right, that all the squaddies head to the nearest pub when they get off shift,” Tosh murmured. “Or this could be a total waste of time.”

 

“Well,” Gwen replied, “Peterson was definitely due to work a shift today, Owen checked. So it's worth a shot, at least.”

 

Midway through the evening, Gwen and Tosh had been fending off advances for hours, and were getting fed up of being hit on by unimaginative soldiers.

 

“Now I know how Ianto felt, in that pub in Manchester,” commented Tosh.

 

Finally their target walked into the bar. He was alone. As he went to the bar to order, Gwen sidled up beside him and, smiling, said “Buy a girl a drink?”

 

The soldier looked surprised, but smiled and said “sure.” When they had their drinks, Gwen invited him to sit at the table with her and Tosh. The pub was loud, with soldiers carousing and the music blaring, so Gwen felt safe in whispering in the soldier's ear. It wasn't what he wanted to hear of course. “We're Torchwood, we need to talk to you.”

 

The soldier looked alarmed, and hissed back “Not here!”

 

“Come back to our hotel with us then” Gwen suggested. “You can pretend to be taking me home, and Tosh will follow on in a few minutes.”

 

Peterson reluctantly agreed and, taking Gwen's arm, he walked out with her to a chorus of catcalls from the other soldiers. Tosh made her escape, via the ladies, soon after.

 

When they reached the hotel, Peterson turned to Gwen and said angrily “What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you know the danger that you'll put me in if UNIT find out it was me who told you lot about the Valiant?”

 

“Yes,” Gwen apologised, secretly pleased to know that Owen had got his identification right. “We're sorry to do this, but we really need your help. It's Jack Harkness. There are things going on with him that we don't understand. And we suspect that UNIT may have something to do with it. It's more than what happened on the Valiant, as if that wasn't enough. We need to understand, to help him.”

 

Peterson looked guilty, as he remembered how UNIT had treated Harkness in the prison. He really didn't want to admit to what had happened, even if, at the time, everyone had believed Harkness guilty of treason. But he owed Jack Harkness his life, so he could hardly refuse to help.

 

Sighing he acquiesced. “OK, what do you want to know?”

 

 

* * * * *

 

At the Hub, the time had come to bring Jack back to consciousness. By mutual agreement, Joanne and Owen had left a few extra hours for the methadone to dissipate, ensuring that it would be at a very low level before Jack awoke. They had a syringe, filled with Jack's usual dose of heroin, standing by.

 

Ianto and Mark were in the room with them, preparing to hold Jack still for the injection, if he was still incoherent. Everyone was hoping desperately that, by some miracle, Jack would be improving, and they would not have to give him the heroin. No one really believed that, though.

 

“Everyone ready?” asked Owen. 

 

The others nodded, so he plucked the device off Jack's forehead and placed it in a metal box.

 

Within seconds, Jack began to murmur and thrash around. He opened his eyes, but was not seeing reality. Mark and Ianto were holding his arms, trying to stop him falling off the bed. Jack strained against them and screamed. 

 

Talking to him had no effect. Jack clearly wasn't seeing them. The methadone had not worked. Owen, therefore, grabbed the syringe and injected Jack as carefully as he could. It was only moments before Jack relaxed, and slumped into oblivion on his bed. 

 

Owen looked at him sadly. “He'll be out of it for hours now. Ianto, do you want to stay with him? We can set up a camp bed, so you can get some sleep, but be on hand if anything changes.”

 

Ianto agreed, gratefully. 

 

* * * *

 

In the hotel in Trowbridge, Tosh, Gwen and Peterson had settled down to talk. “We're going to be frank with you,” Tosh began. “We know that you want to help Jack,. In fact, you were instrumental in him being pardoned, so we're going to trust you with this information. Please don't let it go any further.”

 

“That won't be a problem,” answered Peterson. “ I don't exactly want to advertise any connection to Harkness.”

 

“When we found Jack,” Tosh continued, “he was stoned out of his mind. He'd been working the streets, and obviously using heroin a lot. We took him back to Torchwood, and tried to get him off it. Our doctor, you know him, Owen, supervised his withdrawal. He went through a complete physical withdrawal, but he's still hooked.”

 

Gwen was watching Peterson closely, as Tosh spoke. He did not look surprised to hear what she was saying.

 

“He went out looking for drugs and, despite the fact that he has been officially pardoned, he was grabbed by UNIT soldiers from your old base in Cumbria.”

 

Peterson did look shocked at that, Gwen noted.

 

“We rescued him, and took him back to Torchwood, but he then went into another withdrawal. This time much more violent. He went completely wild, almost insane, when he didn't get his fix. He'll offer anything to get one.” Tosh blushed, remembering what Jack had done to Ianto. “And, although it's the last thing we wanted, we've had to sedate him, and we may have to give him heroin.”

 

As Tosh spoke, Peterson looked more and more guilty, and more unhappy. And he had noticed, and correctly interpreted the reason for Tosh's blush. He cringed at the next sentence.

 

“While he was rambling, he talked about a Major Stamford. He was offering the Major whatever he wanted in return for heroin. Do you know if Jack knew a Major Stamford at UNIT?”

 

“Yes, there was a Major Stamford at the prison for a while,” admitted Peterson.

 

“Do you have any idea how he could have ended up in Manchester, offering Jack a fix?” Gwen demanded.

 

Peterson knew he was on the brink of throwing his UNIT career away. If he told the whole truth, there would be serious, and far reaching, repercussions. His name was bound to come into it, as a witness. But what had happened in that prison, to Harkness and others, was not what he had signed up for when he joined. It was wrong, and someone needed to make a stand.

 

“It wasn't in Manchester, it was at the prison. It was UNIT that got him hooked on heroin.”

 

Tosh and Gwen were flabbergasted. “What possible reason could there be for getting a prisoner hooked on heroin?” Gwen yelled. “Are they more docile and easier to keep, is that it ?”

 

“Nothing so innocent, I'm afraid,” Peterson replied. “They did it to get information out of him. He wouldn't tell them anything under normal interrogation techniques, and believe me they tried them. So they brought in a specialist, Major Stamford. He came up with the new technique. They dosed him up for a few days, then withdrew it and made him go cold turkey. Then upped the dose and did it all again. It took quite a while, and they got him up to a massive dose before he told them anything. It would have killed a normal person.”

 

 

Tosh was looking very pale. She had known that UNIT prisons were brutal, with the inmates treated as scum with no rights. But she had never dreamed they would actually systematically torture a prisoner. How could she have been so stupid. How could she have left Jack there. She should have moved Heaven and Earth to get him moved to someone else's custody.

 

Gwen was also listening with horror. “What information?” she gasped. “What could they possibly have wanted?”

 

“Torchwood,” Peterson admitted. “They wanted to know all about Torchwood. UNIT have always wanted to take over, or avail themselves of the contents of your archive. They always want information on Torchwood. It was like Christmas when Harkness got sentenced.”

 

“But we're on the same side,” Gwen whispered.

 

“So that's why he gave UNIT his codes,” Tosh breathed.

 

“Yeah. It took months, but he eventually told them everything they wanted to know. They know your archives inside out now, and if the codes had worked they would have gone in and taken the lot.”

 

“Do you know why he's still hooked, even after complete physical withdrawal?” asked Gwen.

 

“No, but,” Peterson hesitated, “that wasn't the worst of it.”

 

Already in shock, Gwen and Tosh gazed at him with trepidation.

 

“When he'd told them everything, the top brass lost interest and stopped giving him the heroin. I guess the same thing happened then, as is happening now. He got desperate. He ended up doing six guys for a hit. He never kicked it. From what you said before, I guess he's just trying to buy the hit the same way as he used to.”

 


	20. Chapter 20

After Peterson left their hotel room, Tosh and Gwen sat in silence for several minutes. They were both in shock, and seething.

Gwen was devastated, and her worldview of UNIT, as a force for good, had been totally demolished. A few renegades targeting Jack, for an unknown reason, was not the whole organisation, but this was an officially sanctioned atrocity. Finally Gwen moved, though she was trembling. She started pacing up and down the room. “How could they do something like that! It's totally immoral, inhuman, and illegal,” she shouted.

“UNIT are above the law,” Tosh explained shakily. “Prisoners have no legal rights, and can be treated any way that UNIT want. You weren't worrying about it before were you? When we all thought Jack was a traitor. I was, but I know first hand what UNIT are like. I should never have let Jack get locked up by them,” she berated herself.

“Why the hell didn't you tell us what UNIT were like?” Gwen demanded. “Do you think that if we'd known that Jack would be tortured, we would have let him be taken there, no matter what crimes we believed he'd committed?”

Tosh was shocked at Gwen's verbal attack. “Gwen, no. I never thought that he'd be tortured! You can't believe that.”

“But you knew that it would be bad,” Gwen accused.

Tosh nodded sadly. “Yes, I was in a UNIT prison for two years. It was hell. I was kept in solitary confinement, in a six foot by six foot cell. There was barely any light, and just a concrete floor and a bucket. Prisoners were kept on the verge of starvation, and the guards were brutal. They'd beat you up if you hesitated in obeying orders, for even a fraction of a second. They were just looking for an excuse. And the worst thing was that you knew that you had no rights, and this was going to be your life forever. Can you imagine what that feels like? And for Jack, it could have been lifetimes.”

“Did they torture people?” asked Gwen.

“Not that I ever saw or heard,” Tosh insisted. “They were brutal, but they didn't torture people for information.”

Gwen's anger at Tosh left as abruptly as it had arrived. “I'm sorry,” Gwen apologised. “I know that you would never have stood by, if you thought that might be happening.”

“Of course I wouldn't,” Tosh exclaimed. “If it wasn't for Jack, I'd still be in there. That's why I didn't hand him over to UNIT, when I saw him in Cardiff that time.”

“Thank God you didn't,” Gwen answered. “I know we were angry with you about that, but we were so wrong.” Lapsing into silence, she sat next to Tosh on a bed. They were both fighting for composure.

“Perhaps this is why those UNIT soldiers targeted Jack?” suggested Tosh. “If this information gets out, and we are going to make damned sure it does, the people in charge at that prison are going to be in serious trouble. Perhaps they thought that Jack might tell us and wanted to shut him up.”

“That would makes sense,” Gwen agreed. “We certainly don't have any other theories.” She trailed off for a moment, thinking. “And that makes us a target now. And Peterson, if they know he's talked.”

“We should phone Owen,” Tosh advised.

“It's 2am,” Gwen pointed out.

“That doesn't matter,” Tosh replied. “The more people who know about this straight away, the better.”

* * * * * *

At the Hub, all was tranquil. Mark was on duty, but the rift was quiet. Owen was sleeping in the bunker, Ianto in Jack's room, and Joanne had gone home. Jack lay peacefully on his bed in blissful oblivion.

Down in the bunker, Owen's mobile rang, waking him out of a deep sleep. Grabbing for the phone in the dark, he knocked it on the floor. It continued ringing. Eventually retrieving it he listened, blearily, to the voice on the end of the line. As what Tosh was saying to him filtered slowly into his brain, he jerked properly awake. “Say that again Tosh,” he demanded.

Owen listened in horror, as Tosh gave him a precis of what Peterson had told them. He could barely believe it. All this time they had thought that Jack had brought the addiction upon himself. Instead of which, it was their fault. Again. Lost in his thoughts for a second , he missed what Tosh had asked him.

“Sorry, what?” he asked. “No, stay there tonight. Get some sleep, and drive back in the morning. We'll have a meeting when you get here.”

Slumping back to lie on the bed, Owen contemplated what he had just learned. There were so many issues bound up in it. Most important, to the team, the suffering it had caused Jack, and the potential damage to Torchwood that the information he gave UNIT could cause. But also, damning evidence of UNIT corruption at the highest level, and treason against the Queen as head of Torchwood.

But it was 2am. He would think better in the morning. For now, he would try to sleep, as best he could.

* * * * *

In the morning, Ianto woke first. He instantly looked over to Jack, to make sure he was all right. Jack appeared to be asleep. Ianto fervently hoped that, when he awoke, he would be back to normal. Or at least to what now passed for normal, for Jack. He was very worried that their interference in Jack's drug regime might have upset the delicate balance he had found for mental stability.

At that moment, Jack stirred. Ianto's heart was in his mouth, as he waited, half expecting agonising memories to assail Jack the moment he woke.

Jack opened his eyes.

* * * * *

In Trowbridge, Tosh and Gwen were preparing to leave their hotel. Neither had slept well, being plagued by nightmares. Tosh in particular looked haggard. Stopping in the restaurant, for a quick coffee before they set off, Tosh said, “You're driving, Gwen.”

Seeing the state that Tosh was in, Gwen did not demur. “God this is a mess, I hope that Owen knows what to do.”

“I just hope that no one blames Jack for giving up Torchwood secrets to UNIT,” commented Tosh.

“Oh they couldn't, could they?” asked Gwen in surprise. “Not after what UNIT did to him.”

“Hopefully not,” agreed Tosh. Finishing her coffee, she stood. “Ready,” she asked.

Gwen nodded, and they headed out to their car.

* * * *

When he woke, Jack saw Ianto looking at him anxiousl,y from across his room. He had no memory of how he'd got there. He started to sit up, and groaned as all his muscles protested. He felt like he'd run a marathon.

Ianto flinched when he heard the groan. But relaxed in relief when Jack looked at him in confusion, and asked “What happened?”

“Oh thank God,” Ianto exclaimed. “You're all right.”

Jack blanched, as recent events came back to him. “What happened Ianto? I remember that I tried methadone, but it wasn't working.” He shuddered as he remembered what had happened after that. “I was drowning in the memories. But it's OK now. How? Did the methadone finally work? What did Owen do?”

“I'm so sorry, Jack,” Ianto replied. “The methadone didn't work, and things got so bad for you that we had to give you heroin.”

Jack's tentative hope, that Owen had somehow found a way to stop the memories, and release him from the pernicious hold of heroin, was dashed.

Slumping back on his bed, in despair, Jack sighed. “I can't get off the heroin on my own, I'm sure you understand why now. So what do I do, Ianto?” He looked over at the other man. “I can't go on like this. It makes me helpless. Easy prey for anyone who comes along.” Like Torchwood or UNIT he thought to himself.

Ianto reached out and took his hand. Jack started but did not pull away immediately. “Don't worry,” Ianto reassured him. “Owen and Joanne will figure something out. You're not alone now. We will all help.”

“Thank you.” Jack could tell that Ianto was sincere, and he was grateful. But he was not yet comfortable with any lingering physical contact with Ianto, however innocent. It was too painful a reminder of what they could have had, if Ianto had trusted him as a lover should. Jack disengaged his hand, trying to make it look like a natural movement, though Ianto was not fooled.

Trying to gloss over the fact that he was acutely aware of Jack's aversion to being touched by him, Ianto asked one of the questions that had been plaguing him for hours. “While you were reliving memories, you said something,” he started. “You mentioned an EMP. The implication was that you built it, and knocked out the Toclafane. Is that true?”

“Yes,” stated Jack defensively. He half expected Ianto to scoff at his claim.

“Then, why did you never say anything?” demanded Ianto, incredulously. “We could have avoided all of this. UNIT would never have managed to imprison you, if that had been known. For god's sake Jack, you saved the Earth!”

“Oh, so I only have myself to blame, is that it?” Jack retorted.

The conversation was not going the way that Ianto had intended. “No, that's not what I meant at all,” Ianto assured him. “What you did; building an EMP device, while being systematically abused by the Master, was an unbelievable achievement. Without that, the rebels would have failed in their attempt to overthrow the Master. You saved the whole of humanity. I just don't understand why you never told anyone.”

“Oh I tried. Don't you remember?” Jack asked him.

Ianto looked blank.

“Do the words, `I did help the resistance,' ring a bell?”, Jack hissed. “No? Then let me remind you. The UNIT men were dragging me to the helicopter. You and the rest of the team were watching. But you wouldn't listen, wouldn't let me explain. That was just before you said you had never loved me.”

The words were spoken with bitterness and anguish, and to his utter shame Ianto did remember. “But, ... but, why didn't you tell your defence team or mention it at your trial,” he stuttered.

“I would have,” Jack explained. “It was going to be my first line of defence. But I never got to speak with anyone above grunt rank. And they forgot to invite me to the trial. The first I knew of it, was when they told me I'd been found guilty. After that I saw the top guys, but they were too pleased at being able to lock me away, to be interested in my guilt or innocence.”

“That's totally unjust,” exclaimed Ianto. “How could they do that?” It had never entered his head that Jack had not had a legitimate trial.

“They're UNIT. They run roughshod over the law.”

Shame and guilt were rising like a tidal wave in him, but there was one thing that Ianto could put right. “I lied, you know.”

Jack was puzzled by that. “Lied about what?”

“I did love you,” he admitted. “And I still do,” he declared. The middle of an argument was probably not the best time to make that declaration, but he couldn't stop himself. Ianto reached out tentatively towards Jack, as he spoke. But Jack skittered away. “And I remember that night on the Valiant, when we told each other that. I remember the love, I remember how I felt.”

Jack was shocked. “When,” he asked. “When did you break the retcon?”

“Not until we found out what really happened on the Valiant. But the important thing is, that all those feelings came back to me, and I still feel them. I love you, and I hope that one day we can regain what we had.”

Jack was stunned by Ianto's revelation. For so long it had been what he had dreamed would happen. And that night on the Valiant had been something that he had clung to, through the torment that was his life in the UNIT prison. He spoke almost reverently. “I always remembered the night when he let me see you. I dreamed of it.”

Ianto's heart almost broke as he realised that that hellish night, when the Master had abused Jack in front of him, and then left them together, was one of Jack's happiest memories of the last five years.

“I longed for you to say that for so long.”

Ianto could hear the truth of it in his voice, and his heart leapt. But his hope vanished a moment later, as Jack continued.

“But it's too late, Ianto. You didn't just break my heart, you shattered it into a million pieces. I couldn't deal with it. So I walled off that part of my heart, years ago. It would break me to knock it down now.”

They were both on the verge of tears. But Ianto knew that the fault was his alone. He would respect Jack's wishes. And he would stand by Jack as a friend, for as long as Jack allowed it, with no expectations. But if, in the fullness of time, that wall eventually crumbled, he would be there.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

 

Ianto made breakfast for himself, Jack and Owen. Mark had gone home, so it was just the three of them in the Hub. As they ate, they talked.

 

Owen explained to Jack how they had had no choice, other than to give him the heroin. “I'm sorry the methadone didn't work, Jack,” he apologised. “I really hoped that it would help.” That was the understatement of the century.

 

Jack looked bleak. “So, what do you suggest I do, then?” he demanded. “You know exactly how withdrawal affects me, now.” He stopped short, as a horrible thought struck him. “You don't want me to go cold turkey, do you!” he queried nervously. “I only suggested that before, so I'd be able to convince you I was off it, and have a better chance to get away.”

 

Having witnessed what denying Jack the drug would do to him, Owen was quick to reassure him. “Of course not! No one could kick heroin, if it had that sort of a hold. We all understand now why you were so determined to get out of the Hub and find some.” He didn't mention what Tosh had told him about the circumstances of Jack's addiction. That would be a minefield. He wanted to have a calm conversation with Jack about the way forwards first, with no unnecessary complications. After that he would find a good time to tell Jack what they knew.

 

Owen sighed, “I'm afraid that there's going to be no quick fix for this. We'll have to do this long term. I suggest reducing your dose from its current level, very slowly, over a period of several years.”

 

Jack looked shocked at that. He had never considered that it could take that long to kick it.

 

“And it should be done alongside therapy, as I originally suggested,” Owen continued. Seeing Jack's mutinous look, he elaborated. “It was clear the other day, when you had the methadone, that the withdrawal causes you to relive awful memories.”

 

“Don't you think I know that,” snapped Jack.

 

“Of course,” Owen agreed calmly. “But my point is, that as long as those memories can torment you, to such an extent, you will not be able to fight the withdrawal. It will always overwhelm you.”

 

“I can't just switch them off,” Jack hissed. “You both have a very good idea of why my memories are so traumatic.”

 

“Indeed we do,” Owen agreed, “and that is why I think you need to see a therapist. Anyone, who has lived through what you did, would have serious PTSD. That needs to be treated, so that you can deal with the memories.”

 

Jack had found it incredibly hard, knowing that the Torchwood team had witnessed his shame and humiliation at the hands of the Master, not to mention the lawyers and others involved in getting him pardoned. The last thing he wanted, was more people being privy to the details. “I can hardly go around telling therapists that I'm immortal, and that I was tortured and raped for nine months by a psychotic alien, who enslaved the Earth, can I?” he asked sarcastically.

 

“Why not?” asked Ianto.

 

Jack looked at him askance.

 

“You wouldn't see just any therapist,” Ianto continued. “After the battle of Canary Wharf, all the survivors were offered therapy. The therapist was one that Torchwood One used on many occasions. She is well aware of alien life, and alien activity on Earth. The circumstances surrounding the Valiant wouldn't phase her.”

 

“If you think that therapy is such a great thing, why didn't you have any after Canary Wharf?” asked Jack truculently.

 

Ianto looked ashamed. “I was too focused on hiding Lisa, and looking after her, to be distracted with that,” he admitted. “But I know that many of the others thought that she helped them.”

 

“I've looked into her credentials and experience,” Owen put in. “She has had excellent results, in even the most serious cases of PTSD, and there is nothing that you couldn't say to her.”

 

 

“Do you really think that doing this, would allow me to gradually give up the heroin?” asked Jack, wavering.

 

“I think it's the best chance.”

 

Jack thought about it for several minutes, while Ianto and Owen watched him quietly. They were happy to give Jack as much time as he wanted. Finally, he spoke. “I would only have to talk to this one person?”

 

Owen nodded.

 

Jack fell silent again, as he gathered his thoughts. So, just one more person seeing everything. And, after the many that already knew, what was one more? The potential benefits outweighed that. But, could he open himself up to a therapist? He had spent years keeping his agony to himself, keeping his defenses up. Could he bear to change? If he wanted to get off the heroin, did he have any choice?

 

“OK,” he heard himself saying. “I'll give it a chance. **If** you promise to provide the heroin that I need.”

 

* * * * *

 

After Jack had gone back to his room, Tosh and Gwen arrived back. Owen was pleased about their timing, as he wanted to have this meeting without Jack present.

 

The first words out of Tosh's mouth were, “How's Jack? Was he OK when he came round after the heroin?”

 

After being assured that Jack was back to his usual, albeit addicted, self, the two girls headed up to the boardroom, while Ianto fetched everyone coffee.

 

The four of them sat in the boardroom together. As the girls looked to Owen expectantly, Ianto realised that there was something going on, that he wasn't privy to. “What's going on?” he demanded.

 

“Tosh and Gwen discovered some very disturbing information from Peterson, last night,” Owen explained. “It seems that we've been making incorrect assumptions about Jack's addiction to heroin.”

 

“You'll never believe it, Ianto,” interjected Gwen. “Jack didn't start taking heroin voluntarily, after he escaped. They addicted him deliberately in the UNIT prison.”

 

To say Ianto was stunned, was an understatement. Gwen was right, he couldn't actually believe it. “You must have got it wrong,” he argued, “that wouldn't make any sense.”

 

“They wanted him to tell them everything he knew about Torchwood,” Tosh explained, sadly. “Codes, security information, detailed information on the items in the archives. He wouldn't talk, so they addicted him to heroin, and then withdrew it, over and over again.” Wiping tears from her eyes, she continued. “They are responsible for getting him to the state we saw three days ago. And needless to say it worked, he told them everything. And ...”

 

Tosh was cut off, as Ianto exploded. “Goddam those fucking UNIT bastards! I'll kill the lot of them, after I dose them up with the most agonising drug that ever came through the rift.”

 

The others felt exactly the same way.

 

“I think we already did,” Owen said, patting Ianto on the shoulder. “Kill them, I mean. Three of them at least.”

 

“After everything he did,” Ianto cried. “I asked him, you know, if he was the one who built the EMP device. He was. He saved us, and the whole of humanity, and that was his reward! They didn't even give him a fair trial.”

 

Owen seized on that. “What do you mean? We all gave written evidence for the trial. We were mistaken, but we gave a truthful account of the situation as we knew it. Presumably other witnesses did the same. How was it not fair?”

 

“He wasn't at it, that's how.”

 

“Jesus,” Owen exclaimed. “So he never got a chance to defend himself?”

 

“No. And no chance to tell the court about the EMP device, and that he was working against the Master all along.”

 

“UNIT justice doesn't include proper trials,” Tosh informed them. “I never got one. I did not expect that Jack would get one either. And before you start attacking me for not saying that before, think what your reaction would have been. You wanted him locked up, and you wouldn't have given a toss if he got a fair trial or not back then.”

 

As the enormity of what they had all allowed to happen sank in, their shame and guilt escalated yet again.

 

Owen pulled himself together first. “Well, what we need to do now, is work out how to proceed. We need to get the information about UNIT to the Queen, and have those UNIT bastards, sorry UNIT personnel, involved brought to justice. Until we do that, it won't be safe for Jack to leave the Hub. UNIT might have given up, but we can't assume that they won't try to grab Jack again.”

 

“The Queen won't be pleased to discover that UNIT was torturing prisoners at all, never mind a Torchwood staff member. Particularly when they were doing it to illegally gain information about the institute of which she is head,” Tosh pointed out.

 

“Yes,” agreed Gwen. “Surely that would be treason?”

 

“Do we have any concrete evidence?” asked Ianto.

 

“We'll have to ask Jack for a written statement, naming names and specifying what they actually did,” stated Owen.

 

“And Peterson said that he would be willing to give evidence, so that would back Jack's account up,” Tosh added.

 

“We should also inform her about the EMP device,” Ianto put in. “It's time that what Jack did to defeat the Master was acknowledged.” He hesitated, then ran his hands through his hair in disgust. “But we can't even prove that Jack built the EMP device. It's just his word.”

 

“Do you doubt him?” asked Owen.

 

“No, of course not!” Ianto exclaimed. “But it's not us that need to be convinced.”

 

“Jack may well not want to give a statement about UNIT,” Gwen pointed out. “He's kept quiet about this so far. He obviously didn't want us to know about it.”

 

“Maybe he's afraid of what would happen, if it was known that he gave away Torchwood secrets?” suggested Ianto.

 

“He's got nothing to fear on that score,” stated Owen. “No one could possibly blame him for talking. And, if they try, I'll come down on them like a ton of bricks.”

 

“He also might not want to put into the public domain, the fact that, in the UNIT prison, he was effectively forced to prostitute himself in return for heroin,” Gwen added.

 

“What?” demanded Ianto, incredulously, his voice low and dangerous. As he spoke, there was a crash from outside the room.

 

“Oh God,” murmured Gwen, as she caught a glimpse of Jack fleeing down the corridor.

 

 


	22. Chapter 22

Jack was approaching the boardroom, a cup of coffee in hand, when he heard the team talking. He couldn't make out what they were saying, until he got close. The words he heard then froze him in his tracks; 'in the UNIT prison, he was effectively forced to prostitute himself in return for heroin'. His heart lurched, and he dropped the coffee. Panicked thoughts flashed through his mind. How could they know about that? He had never wanted anyone to know about his abject humiliation at the hands of the UNIT guards. And if they knew that, did they know he had betrayed Torchwood? Whirling around, he took off, heading at a run for his room. 

 

* * * * * 

 

Owen surmised what had happened, in seconds. “Get after him, Tosh,” he ordered, somewhat unnecessarily, as she was already heading for the door. What was necessary, however, was to restrain Ianto, who was also heading that way. “No, Ianto, not you,” Owen ordered.

 

Ianto struggled against him, “Why not? Jack needs me!”

 

“You know that Jack has issues with men, particularly when he's stressed,” Owen reminded him. “And he trusts Tosh more than the rest of us, even you. She's the best person for this.”

 

To his regret, Ianto knew that what Owen said was true. Jack was not at ease with him, and it was better that Tosh talk to him. He stopped struggling. Then he remembered what Gwen had just said. He turned on her, angrily. “What the hell did you mean, that Jack prostituted himself in prison?” 

 

Gwen was looking stricken. “I'm so sorry, Ianto, I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that. I forgot that you didn't know. And I never meant for Jack to hear me. Peterson told us. When Jack had given them all the information they needed, the only way he could get heroin was by having sex with the guards.” 

 

“They raped him?” questioned Ianto, in distress. 

 

“Not exactly,” Gwen explained. “Apparently Jack begged them to do it, if they would give him heroin.” 

 

“That's still rape,” Ianto replied angrily. 

 

“If Jack didn't see it that way, it would not be wise to say that,” Owen advised. “Which do you think would be better, making a voluntary bargain, or being raped?”

 

Ianto slumped into a chair, his head in his hands. “I suppose that explains why he jumped me in his room, the other day, when he needed a hit.”

 

“I guess so,” agreed Owen. He looked at Gwen, pointedly. “I had intended to tell Jack that we knew what happened to him in the prison, but not like this,” he continued, slumping down next to Ianto. He called up the CCTV on his laptop. “We'd better make sure that Jack and Tosh are OK.” As he had guessed, Jack had fled back to his room. That was a good sign, Owen thought. At least it meant that Jack saw his room as a sanctuary, and not a prison. They hadn't locked him in since the withdrawal crisis, which helped.

 

Jack and Tosh had their backs to the camera, and were talking. Owen didn't bring up the sound. He wanted to give them some privacy. He kept the picture on though, to make sure that they were safe. “Gwen, clean up that mess,” he ordered, indicating the pool of coffee interspersed with mug fragments that lay just outside the door. “Ianto, keep an eye on them. Call me if there's any trouble. I'm going to contact that therapist.”

 

* * * * 

 

Tosh ran down the corridor after Jack, and caught up with him just outside his room. “Jack, wait!” she cried. 

 

Jack barely hesitated, and tried to get through the door into his room, so that he could keep her out. 

 

Tosh barreled through, before he could shut it. Though he had no key, he was strong and could keep it shut by force. “Jack, please, I just want to talk.”

 

“Well, I don't want to talk,” he shouted. “I want to be left alone.”

 

“Whatever you just heard, Jack, you need to know that we are all on your side, and we just want to help you.” 

 

“Are you going to arrest me?”

 

Tosh was gobsmacked. “Arrest you,” she echoed, “why would we do that?”

 

Jack was about to blurt out, 'For betraying Torchwood to UNIT,' but bit his tongue as he considered that, perhaps they didn't know that. He settled for just shaking his head in confusion, instead.

 

Tosh seemed to read his mind, though. “Jack, no one blames you for what happened in the prison. We know what happened, how they made you talk. And we know what you had to do to avoid withdrawal afterwards. I promise you that we will make sure that there will be no comeback on you, over anything that happened there.”

 

If anyone other than Tosh, had said that to him, Jack wouldn't have believed them. But Tosh was the person who protected him from UNIT with her silence, when she saw him in Cardiff. She alone, on the Valiant, had not taunted him unmercifully. After recent events he trusted the team with his physical well being, but he trusted Tosh on a deeper level. “Thank you,” he whispered.

 

Tosh moved towards him. “You have nothing to be ashamed of,” she declared. “None of us could have done better.”

 

That he couldn't believe. He knew that he had no pride left, after the life he had led for the last four years. “How can you say that?” Jack demanded. “I whored myself to the UNIT guards for heroin. I begged them to fuck me. And even when I escaped, I carried right on doing it. And it didn't start with UNIT. You've all seen me humiliated, and degrading myself to the Master, on the Valiant.”

 

Tosh's heart broke for him. That was so far from what the team thought of him. How could he not know? “You had no choice in that prison, or afterwards, Jack. And yes, we have seen the tapes of the Valiant. But we didn't see degradation, we saw nobility and love.” Tears in her eyes, Tosh reached out to touch his face. Her sincerity was obvious. Gathering her courage, she reached up and kissed him.

 

Jack was tentative, but he returned the kiss. It had been years since he had been touched with love. Tish was the last person who had not been using his body for their own ends. He broke off suddenly, and pushed Tosh away. “You don't love me.”

 

“How could I not love someone who has done so much, sacrificed so much, for me?” Tosh declared. “What other man, or woman, could compete with that?”

 

Jack turned away suddenly, “I don't want your pity,” he snapped.

 

Tosh pulled him back around to face her. “Jack, my feelings go way back before the Valiant. You saved me from UNIT, and treated me with respect. You never realised, but I would have been overjoyed if you had shown an interest in me back then.” She paused and added sadly, “but you didn't, and I accepted that. I buried my feelings. But, I would never forgive myself if I let this chance pass without telling you how I feel.” She released his arm then, and stepped away from him, giving him space. “I'll understand if you're not interested. Along with all that you've suffered, I know that you and Ianto have complicated, unresolved, issues. But whatever you decide, I want you to know that I do love you.”

 

Complicated was an understatement. Ianto had broken his heart, and despite the love that he had felt for him, it would be a long time before Jack could get over the sense of betrayal that coloured all their interactions.

 

The offer of love and tenderness overwhelmed Jack, and he stepped towards Tosh, caressing her face and wiping away the remnants of her tears. “Ianto and I are not together,” he told her, and bending, he kissed her gently on the lips. As she responded, he deepened the kiss.

 

Tosh pushed Jack's T-shirt off, and kissed her way along his pristine flesh. She marvelled that it was unmarred by scars, when she had seen the wounds he had suffered on the Valiant. Gently caressing him, she leaned forward to recapture his mouth.

 

Jack was feeling emotions that he had long thought lost to him, and desire for the first time since Tish. And even then, that had been induced by drugs. He resisted no longer and pulled Tosh over towards his bed.

 

* * * *

 

Unbeknown to Jack and Tosh, Ianto had been watching their encounter on the CCTV. His sadness was heartbreaking, but surprisingly he was not jealous. He could not begrudge Jack finding comfort with another. Sighing deeply, he reached over and switched the CCTV camera off.

 

* * * *

 

Tosh had never wanted a man as much as she wanted Jack. And it made his touch electric. She uttered soft cries as he touched and caressed her, and her tears flowed as she touched him in return. Tosh was so hyper sensitive that she came even before he entered her.

 

Jack also found himself crying. He clutched Tosh to him and held her tight, practically trying to climb inside her skin. As he entered her they kissed long and deep. Jack's body was plastered against hers, full length. It had been so long since Jack had been with anyone, where his pleasure was involved, that it did not take long for him to reach completion.

 

Holding her close to him Jack buried his face in her hair and sobbed.

 

* * * *

 

Jack woke a couple of hours later, to find Tosh sleeping, still snuggled against him. He smiled fondly down at her. Glancing up at the CCTV camera, he saw that the light on it was off. This meant that the camera was switched off, and no one was monitoring his actions. The others did not know it, but he had seen the code that Owen typed into the cog door, on their return to the Hub after the team had rescued him from UNIT. So it would be easy to leave again. But things had changed. The team had proven to him, by their actions, that they would protect him. They did care. And they were willing to let him take heroin, and work to reduce the dose on any timescale he wanted. Even if UNIT were not lurking outside the Hub, would striking out on his own be any better? In all honesty, the only reason to do that was if he couldn't cope with being with people who knew the intimate details of his traumatic and humiliating past. Tosh knew, and did not judge him harshly. Did his shame outweigh all the help that he could get by staying? It did not take long to come to a conclusion. Decision made, he lay back down, pulled the duvet further over them both, and held Tosh close. 


	23. Chapter 23

While Ianto was keeping an eye on Jack and Tosh, Owen contacted the therapist, Charlotte Nash. He outlined the case to her. Needless to say she was taken aback. She, of course, had no memory of the Master's reign over Earth. She did not want to commit herself to taking the case, before knowing all the facts, so Owen arranged to send down all the documentation that they had. The legal submission they had sent to the Queen would be a useful starting point, but he would need to add a report with the new information that they had accrued since Jack's pardon. After a few minutes reflection, he decided to include the extracts of the DVDs. The therapist would need the whole story, to make her decision.

 

Owen spent a couple of hours organising the material, and writing a summary of what they knew about Jack's treatment by UNIT, and his subsequent life in Manchester. They would need Jack himself to produce written evidence for submission to the Queen, when they put their case against UNIT together, but his summary would be sufficient for the therapist. Once done, he went back to the boardroom to check how Jack and Tosh were doing.

 

To Owen's shock, Ianto was sitting morosely at the table, and the CCTV of Jack's room had been deactivated.

 

“What's going on, Ianto, why have you switched the monitor off?”

 

Ianto looked embarrased. “Tosh is down there with Jack, they needed some privacy.”

 

“What do you mean, they need privacy! You were supposed to make sure that Tosh was safe.”

 

“Oh, use your imagination, Owen,” snapped Ianto. “And there's no need to worry, Jack won't hurt her. Quite the opposite.”

 

It took a moment for Ianto's meaning to filter into Owen's brain. “Oh!” he exclaimed, “I see. Well that's a turn up.”

 

“Isn't it just,” Ianto agreed, slightly shrewishly.

 

* * * * *

 

When Tosh woke, Jack was looking down at her. She blushed, and panicked internally, as she waited for Jack's reaction. They had both been swept away by emotions. What if he now regretted it? Her fears were allayed seconds later, as he leaned down and kissed her gently. It was a long lingering kiss. She could feel his hardness against her thigh as he lay back on the bed, pulling her to follow him as he did so. Tosh went willingly, following his lead as he nudged her legs apart. She let him take complete control, knowing that he desperately needed it. This time there was nothing frantic about their lovemaking. It was slow and languid, and surprisingly innocent. Tosh, along with everyone who knew Jack, and his reputation, would have expected him to go for excitement and novelty in bed. But that was the Jack before the Valiant, before he had been used by the UNIT guards, and his clients in Manchester. It was not so surprising really.

 

As they lay entwined in the afterglow, Tosh's emotions were pure happiness. Jack would not have made love to her again if he had regrets. And she certainly did not.

 

With a kiss to her forehead, Jack sat up. “I guess we'd better get dressed, and get back up to the boardroom. They'll be worried.”

 

“I imagine that they know what we've been doing,” Tosh pointed out wryly. “Someone turned the CCTV off.”

 

“Jack laughed. It's a good thing we're not ashamed then, isn't it,” he joked.

 

Tosh beamed.

 

“Anyhow,” Jack continued. “I need a shower, but you can go first if you like.”

 

“That's OK,” Tosh replied, “you go first. But bring me back a towel, so I don't have to dash across the corridor naked.”

 

Jack flashed her a grin, and then did just that.

 

* * * *

 

Owen had gone off to catch up with paperwork (unrelated to Jack for once), so Ianto was again alone in the boardroom. He didn't have a clue where Gwen had gone off to. Probably somewhere where she could wallow in guilt for causing this grief.

 

Jack and Tosh remained down in Jack's room, and Ianto paced. He was not only getting his head round the new developments between Jack and Tosh, but also the bombshell that Gwen had dropped, which had prompted Jack's flight. Primarily he was furious that UNIT could treat a prisoner that way, and, in particular, someone who was actually innocent, and had in fact done more than anyone to serve humanity. And to do that to someone who had already suffered so much; it was incredible that Jack was even remotely sane. And Jack's reaction to Gwen's ill timed words was completely understandable. Ianto could imagine what he would feel in Jack's place. He needed to show Jack that he did not think less of him, and in no way blamed him for giving away Torchwood secrets, or anything else he had done to get heroin.

 

Ianto racked his brain to come up with something that would show Jack that it did not matter. He finally came up with an idea. It was a small gesture, but would hopefully please Jack, and get the right message across. When Jack had been convicted, all his personal belongings from Torchwood, and a few items found on the Valiant, had been boxed up and archived. To return his things would indicate to Jack that the Torchwood team considered him one of them again, as indeed they always should have.

 

Ianto knew exactly where Jack's belongings were kept, and he had them moved upstairs into the boardroom in less than half an hour.

 

 

* * * *

 

 

As Tosh lay on the bed, waiting for Jack to finish his shower, she had a sudden realisation. They had not used protection! In one respect it did not matter. Tosh knew that she was clean, and Owen had done a thorough check on Jack when they first brought him back to Torchwood. There were no worries there. But, statistically unlikely as it was, particularly at this time in her cycle, she could get pregnant. If this was going to happen again, and she really hoped that it would, she'd need to go to her GP and get sorted out with the pill. And as for this occasion, if the unthinkable happened, she found herself wondering if that would be such a bad thing.

 

Just then Jack came back in the room and handed her a towel. She got up, and wrapped it round herself as she went to the bathroom.

 

 

* * * * *

 

Tosh was a bit nervous, as she and Jack made their way to the boardroom. She did not know what the rest of the team would think of their liaison.

 

As they got nearer the boardroom, Jack's demeanor changed from happy and flirty to a bundle of nerves. Although his fears had been somewhat assuaged by Tosh's comfort and support, he still feared the condemnation of the others.

 

When they entered the boardroom, only Ianto was present. He smiled at them and, turning to Jack, said, “I thought it was time that we returned your things to you.” Stepping back, he indicated the boxes piled against the wall. “Everything that was in your quarters when you left are in these boxes. And this box contains things of yours that were found on the Valiant.”

 

At Ianto's words, Jack relaxed a little. Ianto was clearly not going to censure him for his actions as a prisoner. And Jack was genuinely touched that Ianto had thought to do this, particularly as he knew that he must be experiencing some emotional distress, knowing what had just happened between himself and Tosh. He moved over to the box from the Valiant and, placing it on the table, opened it.

 

Jack caught his breath as he looked at the contents. In it lay his coat. It was a symbol of his previous life. His life before the Valiant, when he had been happy and self assured. He lifted it out of the box and examined it. It was in perfect condition. He stroked it lovingly, and almost put it on, but found that he just couldn't do it. He wasn't the man who had worn it. That man had been erased from existence, through torture and betrayal. It wasn't time. In the future, he hoped, it would be right to wear the coat again, but not yet. Laying it carefully aside, he picked up the one item remaining in the box. It was his TARDIS key.

 

“What happened to the Doctor after the Master was killed?” It was something that he had avoided thinking about since the day time was reset on the Valiant. Why hadn't the Doctor intervened on his behalf, when he was being handed over to UNIT?

 

Ianto knew what Jack's question implied. He wished that he had an answer that would be anything other than yet another blow to Jack. But he had to be honest. “Despite what the Master had done, the Doctor was devastated by his death,” he stated. “I don't think he could deal with anything but that, so he just left all other matters to Torchwood and UNIT. He and Martha left as soon as things were under control on the Valiant. They took the Master's body with them.”

 

“So he didn't care if I was imprisoned, innocent or not?” Jack questioned.

 

“He thought you were guilty,” muttered Ianto in embarrassment, “like we all did.”

 

Jack was stunned. He had honestly not believed that the Doctor would believe that as easily as the others. And to not even bother to ask him, because he was so wrapped up in grief over a sadistic mass murderer, who made Hitler and Mengele look like choirboys. It was one abandonment too many.

 

Seeing his distress, Tosh moved close to Jack and laid her hand on his shoulder. She could feel him tremble. Jack looked at her gratefully, and then dropped the key back in the box. He had guarded that key with his life, for well over a hundred years. It had been his most treasured possession since the Doctor left him on the Gamestation. But now it was meaningless. “Put that back in the archives,” he said harshly. “I don't need it anymore.” Then, flashing a patently false grin at Ianto and Tosh, he declared, “Who needs the Doctor anyway?”

 

Pushing the Doctor from his mind, Jack moved over to the other boxes. He opened one and saw his box of photographs. He had thought he had lost those forever. Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to go through them, and remember the past. “I'll take these down to my room,” he told Tosh and Ianto. “I'll come back for the other boxes in a while.” He headed for the door, where he paused and said, with a genuine smile, “Thank you, Ianto. I really appreciate you returning my things to me. It means a lot.”

 

 


	24. Chapter 24

When Jack left the room, Tosh and Ianto were left alone.

Tosh shifted uncomfortably, as Ianto regarded her. “Ianto, I don't know what to say,” she started. “I ...”

“It's OK Tosh,” Ianto interrupted. “I understand. And I don't mind. Jack needs comfort and affection and, because we have too much bad history, it can't be me who provides it.” He sighed and sat down at the table. “I broke his heart, Tosh, and I don't know if he'll ever be able to forgive me.”

“Oh, Ianto, I'm sure he will,” Tosh assured him sympathetically. “He just needs time. Perhaps the therapy will help.”

“I really hope so,” Ianto replied. “He desperately needs it. I hope that this Charlotte Nash is as good as her reputation implies.”

 

* * * * *

After clearing up the coffee that Jack had dropped, Gwen had fled home, telling Owen, fleetingly, that she needed some air. She was mortified. The last thing that she wanted to do was hurt Jack. And she had totally forgotten that Ianto didn't know the worst details of the UNIT prison.

When she got home, Rhys was there. He was amazed to see her in the middle of a shift. “Has something happened,” he asked in a panic. “Is anybody hurt?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Gwen told him. “But I said something I shouldn't have, and Jack overheard me. It really upset him.”

Rhys was surprised that Gwen was so worried. Jack had never been one to be overly worried about unfortunate remarks. “Oh, Jack won't be worried. He's a capable bloke, I'm sure he'll understand that you didn't mean any harm.”

Gwen was very conscious that Rhys did not know the true facts about Jack's return to Torchwood. He knew that Jack had been in prison, but then pardoned. But he knew none of the horrific details. He could have no idea how vulnerable Jack was now, and how easy to hurt.

“Sit down and have a cuppa,” Rhys suggested. “That'll calm you down.”

* * * * *

When Joanne came in for her shift she sought out Owen, to get an update on Jack.

Owen gave her a quick run down of the earlier events, including Gwen's mega faux pas.

Predictably, Joanne was furious. “Oh, that's just great! Just what a man with the world's worst case of PTSD needs to hear. I hope you read her the riot act.”

“It was an accident Joanne. She didn't have any idea that Jack would walk in,” he explained, in Gwen's defence.

“Well how did he react?” Joanne demanded. “Did it set him off needing the heroin?”

“No, fortunately Tosh was able to calm him down. I think he's accepted that we know everything, including the worst, and we are still standing by him.”

“Well, that's a relief,” Joanne exclaimed. “But we need to get his therapy started soon. Have you got in touch with her yet?” she asked.

“Yes, I have. And I've sent her the documentation. I invited her to visit me to talk about it, in a couple of days. She's going to come by my house, so there's no chance of Jack hearing anything else that could upset him.”

“That's a good idea,” Joanne agreed. “Do you think she'll take the case?”

“I really hope so. There isn't a long list of therapists who would take world dominating, psycho, aliens in their stride.”

* * * * *

After talking to Owen, Joanne went to look for Jack. She found him in his room, going through a box of photographs.

Knocking on the open door, she called “Can I come in?”

Jack looked up and saw Joanne. He beckoned her in with a gesture.

“May I see?” Joanne asked, unsure if Jack would allow it.

With only a brief hesitation, Jack pushed one of the photographs across the bedside table towards her. It was a wedding photo, in sepia, so clearly it was getting on for 100 years old. The man in it was obviously Jack. Joanne was stunned. Despite knowing that Jack could not die, she had not extrapolated that fact to mean that he had lived so long, and without any physical change. “How long have you lived?” she blurted out.

Jack laughed wryly. “Not long yet. Only a couple of hundred years. I'm told I can expect a hell of a lot longer than that.”

“She's beautiful,” Joanne commented, looking back at the photograph.

“Yes, she was,” Jack agreed, “and this photo doesn't do her justice.”

Given the age of the photo, the woman must be long dead. And, Joanne suddenly realised, this would be the story of Jack's immortal life. Watching everyone he loved age and die. “I'm so sorry.”

Jack seemed to follow the apparent non sequitur. He smiled, sadly, and nodded in acknowledgement.

* * * * *

When Joanne and Jack went back up to the boardroom, Ianto, Tosh and Owen were all there.

“Jack,” Owen began, as if nothing had happened since they last spoke. “Do you want to get those UNIT bastards? See that they get their comeuppance?”

“Hell, yeah.”

“Then, I need you to make a written report of exactly what they did to you, and why, and who did it; from the highest ranking person in there to the lowliest soldier. Name everyone. If you don't know names, Tosh can help you go through the staff roster to pick them out.”

“Peterson agreed to give evidence to back you up,” Tosh explained. “So we'll have a good case against them, for submission to the Queen. She'll throw the book at them when she finds out what they've been doing.”

“Who's Peterson?”

“He was one of the guards in your prison,” Ianto explained. “The one who smuggled the DVDs of the Valiant to us, so that we could get you pardoned.”

“I vaguely remember the name,” Jack mused.

“You might remember him if you see his photo,” Tosh pointed out. “And you tell us if he ever did anything to hurt you. He claims he didn't, but, if he did, we need to know.”

“Come down to my desk Jack, and we can look through the staff lists and get all the names you need first. Then I'll leave you to write up your report. I'm due off shift soon and I'll head off home then.”

Half an hour later, they had put names to all the guards in the prison who had joined in, in abusing Jack, either while he was being tortured for information, or later when he was desperate for heroin. Three were dead. Jack had recognised Peterson, but as someone who had been kind to him, not as an abuser, for which Tosh was grateful. Jack had had no difficulty naming the people who instigated the abuse. Major Stamford and Colonel Oduya would be the stars of his report.

When they finished, Tosh stood up and got ready to leave. “You don't need to do it all now, you know,” she told Jack. “You can take some time for yourself, and do it later.”

“No, I want to get it done,” Jack replied. “The sooner we get this case going, the sooner I'll be able to leave the Hub, without fearing that they are out there waiting for me.”

“You don't want to leave yet, do you?” Tosh said, starting to panic.

“No. I'm staying for the moment,” Jack assured her. “But I would like to be able to come and go.”

Tosh smiled. “And you will be able to. We'll make sure they are dealt with.” With that, she bent down and gave Jack a quick kiss on the lips. “I'll see you tomorrow. Bye now.”

* * * *

Gwen returned to the Hub just in time to see Tosh kiss Jack, and head home. She was surprised, to say the least, but her embarrassment about what had happened earlier, outweighed her inclination to gawp incredulously at Jack. She scurried past him, with a quick hello, and scuttled into the archives. She found Ianto there. “What's going on with Jack and Tosh?” she demanded. “I just saw her kiss him!”

Ianto sighed. Before the Valiant, Gwen had had a major crush on Jack, despite her relationship with Rhys. Like his love for Jack, that had turned to contempt, and hate, when they thought Jack guilty of collaborating with the Master. He hoped that she would not resurrect the crush, now that she knew of Jack's true actions. That would be just what they needed. Three of them in love with Jack. “You're not jealous are you?” he asked.

“Don't be daft!” Gwen exclaimed. “I'm a married woman.” She looked at Ianto carefully, and then asked him, “Are you jealous?”

Ianto blushed. “Not jealous, no, but I am depressed. You know how I feel about Jack.”

Gwen's motherly instincts rushed to the fore. “Oh Ianto, love, you shouldn't worry. It was just a quick peck on the lips, nothing significant.”

“Oh it was significant, believe me,” he replied. “And it wasn't just a peck on the lips. They've been to bed together.”

“No way!” exclaimed Gwen. She was flabbergasted. “When?”

 

“This morning, after Jack ran off,” Ianto explained. “Obviously it's not what I want, but it's good for Jack. He needs affection, and Tosh can give it to him. We should support them.”

“Oh, of course,” Gwen agreed, surprised at how calmly Ianto was taking this.

* * * * *

Mark arrived for his shift at 6pm. He found everything quiet. He checked the CCTV. Jack was down in his room, typing on a laptop, Ianto was in the archive and Owen was doing paperwork in his office. He checked the logs. Gwen had gone out with Joanne to check a report of a mysterious animal in Cathays.

He went into Owen's office. “Hey Owen. I'm in, so you and Ianto can get off home if you like. I'm on with Joanne tonight, right?”

“Yes, that's right Mark. And I should really get home on time for once. There's nothing urgent at the moment.” He stood up and prepared to leave. “But call me if anything happens with Jack won't you.”

“Sure,” agreed Mark. “Are you expecting any problems?”

Owen wondered if he should explain Jack's earlier meltdown, and the reasons behind it. But things had calmed down, and Jack was unlikely to throw another wobbler at this point. He decided that Mark didn't need to know the details of the UNIT prison.

“No. He should be fine. He's not due for another fix yet. So I'll be off then. I'll see you tomorrow.”

* * * * *

It was early evening when Owen arrived home.

Karen was understandably surprised. “My God, you're home. That's the first time in over a week that you've been home before midnight, if at all.”

“Yes, I'm sorry. Things have been very,” he hesitated, looking for the correct word, “traumatic at work lately.”

“I could tell. You've been like a bear with a sore head whenever I have seen you.” Wrapping her arms around him, she gave him a hug and they kissed. “Is it to do with the man you told me about. Jack. The one who was pardoned?”

Owen slumped down into a chair. “Yes. We found him and brought him to Torchwood. But he's in a bad way. He's got major PTSD, not surprisingly, and he's addicted to heroin.”

Karen looked shocked.

“It happened in prison, and wasn't voluntary,” Owen explained. “And getting him off it is going to take years.” He put his head in his hands. “He doesn't deserve any of this. He's a hero, but all he got in return was pain and grief.”

“It sounds like he needs professional help,” Karen put in.

“Ah, yes,” said Owen sheepishly. “He does. And the therapist is coming here in a couple of days to discuss the case. You don't mind do you?”

“Here, to the house?” Karen queried.

“Yes. And I need you to give us privacy when she does. The things we need to discuss are very personal for Jack.”

“That's OK,” Karen smiled. “Just let me know when, and I'll make sure I'm out. You do what needs to be done to help him.”

* * * *

Jack worked on his report over the next two days, while the others tried to catch up with their Torchwood work. There were a couple of rift alerts, which were dealt with easily, with no injuries to anyone. It was the most peaceful time Jack could remember for ages, or would have been, if he hadn't been bringing things better forgotten to the forefront of his mind, in order to write his report. Dragging up the exact details was hard. It was akin to trying to relive the memories, rather than having them inflicted upon him by the heroin withdrawal. He did not want to remember, but he had to do it in order to bring those UNIT people down. He wanted justice, and he wanted to be free to walk the streets without fear.

By the time he finished he was emotionally drained. And he could feel the need for heroin becoming stronger all the time. He took the report to Owen and handed it over. “Here, it's done. You'd better read it through and see if you need anything clarified.”

 

Owen took it from him, giving Jack a once over with his professional eye as he did so. He looked exhausted and was beginning to show signs of tremors. “Thanks Jack. I know that this wasn't easy for you.”

 

 

“No it wasn't,” Jack replied. “And now I need a fix.” He looked at Owen apprehensively. This was when he found out if the team would honour their promise to provide him with heroin.

“Oh, right of course,” stuttered Owen, leaping up in his haste to fetch Jack's heroin. He did not want to let him suffer as he had before.

His haste reassured Jack. “It's OK, you don't have to run,” he commented. “I'll manage for a little while yet.”

As they went into the medical bay together, Owen asked “Do you want someone to stay with you while you're out of it?”

Jack considered that briefly, but then shook his head. “No, it's OK, as long as there is someone in the Hub.”

“There will be, don't worry,” Owen promised. Handing Jack the syringe he had just prepared, he asked “Do you want to take this down to your room?”

“Yes, and a ligature. I'll be fine in my room.”

“OK, but we'll monitor you.”

Jack had expected nothing else, but this time he found he did not mind.


	25. Chapter 25

Owen read Jack's report, while Jack lay oblivious in his room. It was horrifying. Hearing it third hand from Tosh and Gwen had not prepared him for the reality. 

 

The lengths that UNIT had gone to, to make Jack talk, were unbelievable in a civilised society. Even before they started with the drugs, they could have been up for prosecution. Abu Salim had nothing on that UNIT prison. But it did not surprise Owen that the physical torture had not defeated Jack. Having seen the Valiant DVDs, he knew what the man could withstand. 

 

Jack had also described the systematic addiction that he had been subjected to, and the effect this had on him. This had broken him. It was written clinically, but Owen could interpolate the events, based on what he had seen at Torchwood. Jack didn't list what he had told UNIT, but Owen assumed that everything Jack knew about Torchwood had been compromised. It was fortunate that all Jack's security codes had been invalidated. Even so, the fact that UNIT knew every detail of their operations, and all the important artefacts that they had, was deeply worrying. 

 

Jack's description of his treatment by the guards, after their superiors had lost interest in him, was written as a bargain entered into freely. He never accused those soldiers of abuse, even coming close to sounding grateful for their actions. Clearly Jack could not see that what they did was tantamount to rape. And Owen would not disabuse him of that belief, even while accusing the soldiers of abuse and rape in his submission to the Queen. 

 

There was just one more report that Owen needed from Jack before he could take their case to the Queen. The account of how Jack had built and used the EMP device, and what happened to it. 

 

* * * * 

 

Later that evening, Owen and Ianto were alone in the main Hub. They were having a much needed coffee break.

 

“You know, you're damned lucky that UNIT didn't arrest you when they found out about Lisa,” Owen pointed out to Ianto.

 

Ianto was taken aback. “Cachi!” he exclaimed in shock. “That never occurred to me.” And it really should have. “But why didn't they?”

 

“I don't know. But if they haven't by now, I'd guess they aren't going to,” Owen surmised.

 

“Right,” agreed Ianto, though he wasn't as confident as Owen about that.

 

Owen yawned then. “I guess it's about time that I headed home,” he told Ianto. “Jack is in his room, still stoned. Do you want to stay and monitor him? I promised him that we wouldn't leave him alone in the Hub, but Joanne and Gwen will be in soon, so you could hand over to them if you wanted.”

 

“No, I'll do it,” Ianto replied. “I want to make sure that he's OK.”

 

“OK,” agreed Owen. “I thought you'd want to.”

 

* * * * *

 

The next morning, at his house, Owen sat in the study with his laptop and his copies of the documents that he had sent the therapist. It was 9am, and she was due to arrive any time. He was psyching himself up for a difficult conversation. Karen was at work, and wasn't due back for several hours, so there should be no interruptions.

 

At that moment the door bell rang. Owen opened it, to see a short, dumpy, woman in her early 50s, on the doorstep. She wasn't what he had expected. Uncertain if this was the therapist, or a random caller, he asked “Doctor Nash?”

 

The woman smiled, and answered “Yes. May I come in?”

 

“Oh, of course,” Owen apologised, and ushered her in. “The study is through here.” He took her coat, and hung it on the bannister. At least Jack won't be falling for his therapist, he thought, somewhat unkindly, then berated himself internally for being such a chauvinist. In fact, he'd be only too pleased if Jack would flirt with her, as he would have in the past.

 

When they were both installed in the study, with a cup of coffee, they got down to the serious discussion.

 

“I have read all the documentation that you sent me,” Charlotte began. “It was a shock, to say the least, to find out about the Master and the months that he enslaved the Earth, not to mention the existence of an immortal man. But, from my previous work with Torchwood, I am well aware of alien life, and events that have been covered up previously. I understand perfectly why you have come to me. In fact I don't know of another therapist that you could have approached. And that gives me a great deal of responsibility.”

 

“Anyway,” Charlotte continued, “you are probably well aware that this case is, perhaps, the most complex and tragic case of PTSD in the history of psychiatry. The initial trauma on the Valiant would have been bad enough, a thousand times worse than any other human could have suffered. But to then receive no help, or treatment, for his PTSD, and instead be treated as a criminal, and handed over to UNIT, deepened the devastating psychological effect. What UNIT then did would have been enough to drive most people to insanity. It's amazing that Jack can function at all. And his abandonment and betrayal by his friends, after the Master died, has to have had a significant effect on how badly he became addicted to heroin.”

 

Owen looked mortified, but Charlotte had barely even started. “What were you thinking, just handing him over?” she asked scathingly. “It must have been obvious that he needed psychological help. Did none of your team notice anything strange about his behaviour after the Master was killed, or even before that, when he was pretending to collaborate with him?”

 

 

In his heart, Owen knew that there was no getting around the team's culpability. “While he was going along with the Master, we got no hint that he was being hurt or coerced,” he admitted. “And when the rebels stormed the ship, there was a lot happening,” he pointed out, defensively. “We had to get everyone, including all the dead, off the Valiant before the Toclafane realised that it had been compromised. We were in a panic, as they could have discovered it at any time. I didn't even see Jack until after time had reset, and he was being taken off the Valiant by UNIT. And we all thought he was a collaborator. We didn't know what he had done for us, or to help defeat the Master.”

 

“So, none of you even talked to him?” demanded Charlotte incredulously.

 

“Gwen did,” Owen admitted. “But she didn't tell us until recently. Apparently Jack begged her to let him jump, so his memories would be reset.”

 

“And she didn't think that was worth mentioning to the rest of you? The Valiant was 18,000 feet up; doesn't that request scream out severe trauma?”

 

“She just thought that Jack wanted to escape justice for his crimes,” Owen explained. “She had no idea that that was the one chance for Jack to escape the hell he'd just lived through.”

 

“But after time reset, you could have talked to him then.”

 

“I guess we could have, but to my eternal regret we didn't. He'd done too good a job of fooling us. We all hated him, particularly me and Ianto.”

 

“So, instead of the reprieve from torture and condemnation, that he must have been praying for, Jack found himself handed over to an organisation that treated him almost as brutally as the Master.”

 

Owen nodded miserably. “And we all live every day wishing that we could turn back time again,” he added.

 

* * * * *

 

At the Hub, Jack had come out of his stupor, and had showered and dressed. It was mid morning. When he emerged, he found Joanne, Gwen and Ianto drinking coffee and discussing a blowfish that Gwen and Joanne had dealt with during the night. Unfortunately Gwen had had to shoot it, as it was totally crazed on drugs and threatening several lives. The fish was now laying in the morgue, awaiting Owen's investigation into what drug had driven it mad.

 

There were Danish pastries in a box on the table, and Ianto pushed it over to Jack. “Coffee with it?” he asked.

 

Jack nodded and sat down with a pastry. He eyed up the others. Ianto looked wrecked. And, if he was still here, he must have done a day shift plus a night shift. Gwen and Joanne looked tired, but not as bad as Ianto. Gwen still wouldn't look him in the eye.

 

Joanne was pleased to see that Jack was eating. He was way underweight for his height.

 

Just then Mark walked in through the cog door. “Ah, breakfast,” he said cheerfully, grabbing one of the pastries.

 

“Didn't you have any before you came in?” Gwen accused. She had had her eye on that pastry.

 

“Oh yes,” Mark laughed, “but you can't beat these.” He downed the pastry in two bites, then headed off to his work station. “Anything to report,” he asked Joanne and Gwen as he went.

 

They got up and followed him. “Yes, we'd better show you,” Joanne replied. “Come to the morgue.”

 

“Jack, there's something I wanted to ask you,” Ianto began, after the others had gone out of earshot. “I know that you had to tell UNIT everything that you knew about Torchwood.” He stopped as Jack visibly paled, and started to show signs of agitation. “It's OK,” he said placatingly, raising his hands in a calming gesture. “I know that you didn't have a choice. I'm not blaming you. I just wondered if you had any idea why there was never any comeback on me about Lisa?” Ever since his conversation with Owen, Ianto had been worrying that someone would eventually come to arrest him for the Lisa incident.

 

Jack looked down, took a deep breath and then answered. “I'm sure they would have, if they had found out. But that was the one piece of information that I was determined to hold on to. I can't be sure, but I fought, with all the strength I had, not to give them that.” And it had been almost impossible, he remembered. When he was down to that one last piece of information, he had been so desperate for another fix. It was hazy now, but he knew that they had left him for a very long time without a fix, to make sure they had everything he knew. Only when they were absolutely certain there was no more information to be gained, had they allowed him to buy the heroin with his body. 

 

Ianto could barely contain his astonishment. For Jack to manage to hold anything back, when faced with reliving his nightmarish memories endlessly if he did so, was truly amazing. Having seen him in that state, Ianto knew what that would have meant. And to do that for him, when at that point Ianto had thrown away Jack's love and loyalty, was incomprehensible. “But why?” he blurted out. “I had betrayed you by then, and you knew that I hated you. Why would you do that for me?”

 

“They would have executed you,” Jack pointed out. “And, all I had to hold onto, was that I had saved you and the others. After all that I'd gone through on the Valiant to keep you safe, I couldn't let UNIT kill you. It would have been soul destroying.”

 

Ianto was floored. And then remorse rose up, as he remembered that night with Tosh and Joanne. The night he had nearly killed himself, albeit unintentionally. Tosh had been right. That would have been a negation of everything that Jack had suffered for them. Thank god that they had saved him. Unconsciously, he plucked nervously at his sleeve, above one of his scars, hoping fervently that Jack would never find out. 

 

* * * *

Seeing how upset Owen was, Charlotte backed off. “I know,” she said. “I can imagine what you must all be feeling. But what's done is done. What is important, is to help Jack now. And that's what I'm here for.” She smiled briefly. “I admit that it's not a case that I relish taking on. It is the most difficult case I've ever met, and I did consider saying no. I would hate to make things worse. But I can't in good conscience refuse it. Jack is in dire need of help, and I've never come across a more deserving person.”

 

Owen sagged in relief. He hadn't even realised how tense he was, waiting to find out if Charlotte would take Jack's case.

 

“I presume that you are giving Jack his full dose of heroin?” she queried.

 

“Yes,” Owen confirmed. “My aim is to gradually reduce his dose, but I don't want to start doing that until he is well underway with the therapy. Do you think it will work?” he asked. “We thought that dealing with his memories would be the only way to stop what happens when he goes into withdrawal. And believe me,” he stated seriously, “I never want to send him into that state again. I've never seen anything so utterly harrowing. And to know that they aren't just nightmares, that he actually lived through it all. It's enough to send us all into therapy.”

 

“Well, consider me available if anyone else wants to do that,” Charlotte smiled. “And, as to whether it will work for Jack, it's impossible to say. But I do think it is the most sensible thing to try. And even if it doesn't get him off the heroin, helping him deal with the memories will be very beneficial in its own right.”

 

“OK, then. When can you start?” Owen asked. “It isn't safe for Jack to leave our base, so the sessions will have to take place there.”

 

“It's going to be intensive, with Jack, so I will have to move here to Cardiff, at least for a few months,” Charlotte pointed out.

 

“Can you do that?” asked Owen.

 

“Yes. I have a very understanding husband, and my children are grown up, so I can base myself here and go back home to London for visits. I assume that Torchwood can set me up with a place to live.”

 

“Of course,” Owen assured her. “I'll get right on it.”

 

“Then I'll just need a day or two to get myself sorted, then we can start Jack's sessions. But now, tell me as much as you can about Jack's background. There wasn't anything about that in the files you sent me. And how is he immortal?”

 

Charlotte and Owen spent the rest of the morning discussing Jack, though there was a lot about Jack's life that Owen didn't know. They arranged a date and time for Charlotte to meet Jack. “It'll have to avoid the times he's stoned,” Owen explained. “But that seems to be roughly once every three days. We should be able to predict that well enough to avoid it.”

 

Finally, they shook hands and Charlotte left. She would return in two days, to start her sessions with Jack.

 

* * * * *

 

That evening, Tosh turned up at the Hub. It was officially her day off, so Mark was surprised to see her. “Hi, Tosh. Did you forget you've got the day off?” he asked.

 

Tosh blushed. “No, I didn't forget. I just came to see if Jack wanted any company.”

 

“Oh, right. Well I think he's down in his room,” Mark replied.

 

Tosh smiled in thanks. “I'll just go down there and see then.”

 

When she got to Jack's room, he was alone. She knocked and entered when he looked up. “Hi Jack,” she said, feeling shyer than she had done since her teens. “I thought you might like some company.”

 

Jack was genuinely pleased to see her. He had been looking at his photographs again, but was in danger of getting maudlin. “Fancy a game of chess?” he asked. “My set was in one of the boxes Ianto found for me.”

 

Tosh smiled gleefully. “Oh yes. And I am unbeatable at chess,” she warned him.

 

“Wanna bet?” he asked. “I can thing of a few things we could wager.”

 

Tosh grinned. “So can I,” she murmured, as they set up the board. She didn't emerge from Jack's room until morning.

 

 

**AN2: Cachi – Welsh swear word**


	26. Chapter 26

Jack and Tosh appeared in the boardroom together the next morning, much to Owen's surprise, as he had not realised that she was already in the Hub.

 

Knowing that Jack couldn't leave the Hub, and that sending the boss out to fetch food wasn't the done thing, Tosh went on the breakfast run. She arrived back with bacon sandwiches for the three of them. Unfortunately, Jack had made the coffee while she was gone, as Ianto wasn't due in for another hour. But you couldn't have everything.

 

After they had eaten breakfast, and Tosh had gone to her workstation, Owen asked Jack to come in to his office.

 

“I read your report,” Owen explained. “If that doesn't get the Queen motivated, I don't know what will. There's just one more thing I need from you before I can go see her.”

 

Jack looked puzzled. He thought he had done everything that would be needed.

 

“Can you write up what you did with the EMP device?” Owen continued. “You know, how and when you built it, when you used it, and what happened to it afterwards. They never found it on the Valiant.”

 

“They wouldn't have,” Jack confirmed bitterly. “It was destroyed when the mob attacked me. They trampled it.”

 

“What mob?” Owen asked.

 

“Some of the prisoners who were released by the rebels. They knew who I was. I tried to surrender, and explain, but they didn't take any notice.”

 

Owen flinched. But it wasn't surprising really, he reflected. To his shame, he might well have punched Jack himself if he had run into him. “And there won't be any witnesses to that, I suppose,” mused Owen. “They will all have forgotten the events.”

 

“There's Ianto,” Jack corrected him. “He was there. I don't know if he saw the device. But he could corroborate my story.”

 

* * * * *

 

Owen had worked fast the previous day, and had found Charlotte a furnished flat in a nice neighbourhood, two miles from the Plas. She had gone home to London, and spent the evening with her husband. Then, in the morning, she spent several hours packing what she would need for a several month stay in Cardiff. “Just as well I've got an estate car,” she muttered to herself.

 

Finally, after a quick lunch, she loaded the car and was ready for the three hour drive to Cardiff. Since it wasn't too far from London, she would be able to go back frequently enough to deal with the two patients she was currently seeing, and visit home fairly frequently.

 

Getting into the car, she struggled with the satnav for a few minutes before she managed to persuade it cooperate and show her route. Then it fell off the windscreen. “Oh for crying out loud. Why does technology hate me?” she wondered. Finally getting it fixed back into place, she set off.

 

* * * * *

 

Ianto was down in the archives when Owen tracked him down. “Ianto, I just wanted to check. On the Valiant, when Jack was attacked by a mob, he says you were there.”

 

Ianto froze. That was an episode that he really did not want to dwell on. There seemed to be no end to the ways that he had betrayed Jack.

 

Seeing Ianto's stricken expression, Owen paused. The last thing he wanted to discover was that Ianto had attacked Jack, along with the mob. So he carefully avoided that question. “Is he right, were you there?”

 

“Yes,” breathed Ianto. “It was just after we were released from the cells. You and Tosh had gone off with a few of the rebels, to look for a weapons store. I went with the biggest group of prisoners, who were heading for the flight deck.”

 

Thinking that perhaps there were two witnesses, Owen asked “Was Gwen with you?”

 

Ianto thought back. “There was barely any light, and it was chaos, but I lost track of Gwen before we found Jack. I don't think she was there when he was attacked.”

 

“That's a shame,” Owen replied. “But anyway, did you see the EMP device? Jack says he was holding it when the mob attacked him.”

 

It wasn't what he had been expecting to be asked, but Ianto pulled his thoughts together, and tried to remember details of the event. He had been at the back of the crowd, as they surrounded Jack. But Jack had seen him, and had reached out to him, with an empty hand. But he had no idea if he was holding the device in his other hand, or not. “No, I didn't see. One of his hands was empty, but he could have had it in his other hand.”

 

“But you can confirm that he was attacked by a mob, just after the Toclafane were knocked out?”

 

“Yes,” nodded Ianto.

 

“Well good. You can give evidence, if it's required,” commented Owen. “Jack says the mob trampled the device, which is why it was never found.”

 

“They probably did,” Ianto agreed. He hid his disquiet at the idea of giving evidence about that event well.

 

* * * *

 

The following day, Charlotte met Owen, as arranged, at the sculpture in the Plas. She was a bit surprised that he hadn't just given her the address of their office, but this was Torchwood.

 

Owen always loved to bring trusted, first time, visitors into the Hub via the invisible lift. He never failed to get a kick out of their reaction.

 

Charlotte was no exception. As the paving stone she stood on started to descend, she yelped in surprise, then hung onto his arm as they descended. The Hub was an amazing sight from above. “Wow,” she exclaimed. “This is a bit different to Torchwood One!”

 

Owen smiled. “Yes, a bit more exciting than an office block isn't it?”

 

“Definitely,” Charlotte agreed.

 

Ianto, Joanne and Mark were in the Hub, and had seen Charlotte arrive. Owen made the introductions. Charlotte was especially interested to meet Ianto, but did not let it show.

 

“You have two other team members, is that right?” she asked Owen.

 

“Yes, but Gwen and Tosh are off duty at the moment,” Owen explained. “Jack is downstairs. I'll take you down to meet him.” As they walked, Owen filled Charlotte in on his preparations for her first session with Jack. “As you requested, I've sorted out a room for you. It's just a few doors down from Jack's room. It's quiet down here, and no one will disturb you. And I have warned Jack that you would be coming today. He's nervous, as you might expect.”

 

“Most patients are,” Charlotte told him. “It takes everybody a while to get used to talking about themselves, and their feelings. And Jack has a lot more to deal with than other patients.”

 

“Here's the room,” announced Owen. “Is it what you wanted?”

 

Charlotte looked around. It had a desk and office chair at one end, but a sofa, armchairs and coffee table at the other. “This is fine,” she assured him. “Could you rustle up some coffee for me and Jack, and then bring him along?”

 

“Sure,” agreed Owen. “I'll get Ianto to make a fresh pot. He's our coffee expert.”

 

* * * * *

 

Ten minutes later, Owen came down to Charlotte's therapy room with coffee and biscuits. He then went to ask Jack to join them, returning with him in less than a minute.

 

“Jack, this is Charlotte Nash. Charlotte, this is Jack Harkness.”

 

Charlotte cast an eye over Jack. He was handsome, though he would have been more so with a bit of extra weight on him. And his body language practically shouted that he didn't want to be there. They shook hands. “Sit down,” Charlotte invited.

 

Jack sat in an armchair, across the coffee table from the therapist. He was looking at the floor.

 

“I'll just leave you to it then, shall I?” queried Owen, and beat a hasty retreat when Charlotte nodded.

 

“It's good to meet you Jack,” she began. “And before we start, I just want to say thank you.”

 

Jack's head snapped up in surprise. “Why? What for?”

 

“I understand that Earth has you to thank for its liberation from the Master. And for the reversal of time, which gave back the lives of most of humanity, most likely including me.”

 

Jack was suspicious about her motives for saying it. He couldn't help but think that she was probably using it as a ploy to get him on side. But, he'd had little enough thanks for his part in that, so he was still slightly pleased. “It wasn't just me,” he pointed out.

 

“But you played a vital role,” Charlotte insisted. “Without you, the Master could still be in power.”

 

Smiling slightly, Jack accepted her point. “You're welcome,” he added.

 

* * * *

 

Jack had finished his report on the EMP device that morning and given it to Owen. Owen had read through it in amazement that someone in Jack's situation could have had the mental strength to pull it off. It was an incredible achievement. Jack had risked discovery every time he had retrieved a part for the machine. And then to have finished the device and held back using it, until it would have the maximum effect, must have taken tremendous willpower. Owen could guess how desperate Jack would have been to escape from his abuser. But he wouldn't abandon the rest of them.

As he wanted to get the documentation about UNIT's abuse of Jack, and the EMP device, sent off to the Queen as soon as he could, Owen phoned Gwen at home to check if she was a witness to the mob's attack on Jack. She was not, so he printed out the final copy and sealed it, with the rest of the documents, in a secure envelope. He then phoned the direct number for the Queen's office. They had been given that number when they visited Buckingham Palace with Harriet Jones. He arranged for the Queen's personal courier to collect the documents. This would minimise any risk of UNIT intercepting them. He would be informed when they were delivered safely. And, after the Queen had had time to read through everything he would go to the Palace for a meeting.

 

* * * *

 

“Have you ever had therapy before, Jack?” asked Charlotte. She thought that he probably hadn't, but wanted to be sure, before she launched into her explanation of what they would do.

 

“No,” Jack told her, grimacing wryly. “Discussing my innermost feelings and traumas is something I've managed to avoid doing for over 100 years. I can't say that it is high on my wish list of things to do now either.”

 

“I'm afraid that will be part of the process,” Charlotte told him. “In our sessions you will need to discuss what happened to you, and your feelings about it. Nothing anyone can do will ever make what happened OK, but the aim is to allow you to work through it, accept that it happened, and enable you to move on. And everything that you say to me is in strict confidence. I will not let anything that you tell me go any further.”

 

“What if you think that there are things other people need to know?” Jack asked.

 

“Then I will suggest to you, that you tell them yourself,” Charlotte replied. “I won't go behind your back and tell them myself. That would be a breach of doctor/patient confidentiality. I'm not saying that I won't discuss your general progress, for example with Owen. He is, after all, your doctor. But I will not tell him any details of what you have said to me.”

 

It was going to be difficult. He had spent so many years holding his emotions inside, hidden from everyone. But Jack knew that he was going to have to let down his barriers, and give the therapy sessions his best shot. He had no other ideas of how to get off the heroin. It was why he'd allowed Owen to find a therapist. And Charlotte was doing her best to put him at ease. She was friendly, and not the least bit threatening. And, best of all, a complete stranger. He found that he was much happier with the idea of talking to a stranger, than to someone he knew.

 

Charlotte could see the struggle that Jack was having with himself. She gave him time, sipping her coffee while she waited.

 

Eventually Jack spoke again. “OK, I'm willing to try. What do you want to know?”

 

Charlotte smiled. “As it's our first session, we'll start slowly. I'd like to know what you are thinking and feeling now. So can you tell me your point of view of the events since Torchwood found you? You can say anything. I know that you are immortal, and not from Earth. You don't have to hide anything.”

 

Jack looked her straight in the eyes then and started to talk.

 

“I was working in Manchester when they found me,” Jack started. “As a prostitute,” he added bluntly, looking intently at Charlotte for any signs of a negative reaction. She showed none, so he continued. “I went to the pub I worked out of, and there they were; Ianto and Tosh. I was terrified. If it had just been Tosh, I might have let her talk to me, but, with Ianto there, I was sure that they had brought UNIT with them. I didn't believe them about the pardon. I had spent years in torment, and I thought it was going to start again. That alone would have been enough to make me run, but then they told me that they had seen DVDs of what the Master did to me on the Valiant.”

 

Charlotte watched as Jack visibly shook.

 

“You've seen some of it, I know,” Jack continued. “I don't know which bits though. I hope that they kept the more degrading and humiliating scenes away from you. I never wanted anyone to see me like that; screaming, crying, soiling myself, crawling on my belly to the Master and begging for mercy. And they would have seen me let him do whatever he wanted to me, without fighting back. I lost count of the times I let him rape me. And they had seen it all. It was beyond humiliating.”

 

Jack paused to wipe his eyes with the back of his hand. “Is it even rape, if you lie down for them on command, and let them do it?” he asked.

 

Charlotte was shocked to find that she didn't actually know what a court of law would say. But she knew what it ought to say. “Morally that was rape,” she stated categorically. “And you were under horrendous duress. No one could blame you for complying.”

 

“Blame, perhaps not,” agreed Jack, “but can you ever respect someone when you have seen them like that?”

 

“I don't think you need to worry about the team respecting you,” Charlotte pointed out. “From what I've been told, you saved all their lives, at great personal cost, as well as helping to defeat the Master. You've certainly got my respect, and I'm sure that you have theirs.”

 

Jack let the point drop, and continued with his story. “I couldn't cope with them having seen it, and I thought that UNIT were about to move in, so I ran. I thought I'd got away, but they'd managed to get a tracker on me and they followed.”

 

“I thought I'd made it back to safety, to my flat,” he explained when Charlotte looked at him enquiringly. “And, it hadn't happened often but, whenever I encountered anything that reminded me of the Valiant, I needed to shoot up. It didn't matter that I wasn't due to do it. I had to, or I couldn't function. Do you understand? I'm sure Owen has told you what happens when I don't.”

 

Charlotte nodded. “How did you feel about Ianto and Tosh then?” she asked.

 

“I was humiliated, and terrified of them. I thought Tosh had betrayed me. That really hurt. I had believed that she was protecting me from the others. She had seen me before, and not turned me in. Ianto, I wasn't surprised by though. I knew that he hated me, probably even more than Owen and Gwen, and would like nothing better than to hand me back to UNIT.”

 

“But they obviously didn't do that,” Charlotte commented.

 

“No,” agreed Jack. “But I didn't know then, that they wouldn't. As I said, I didn't believe them about the pardon, even after they said they'd seen the DVDs. I couldn't think straight. And even when they took me to Torchwood, and didn't hand me over, the only thing that mattered to me was that I had lost my access to heroin. It was like being at the UNIT prison again. Torchwood were the enemy, and my focus was to outwit them and escape.”

 

“What happened to change your mind?” asked Charlotte. “It's clear that you no longer think of them as the enemy.”

 

“I escaped,” Jack explained. “And UNIT were waiting outside the Hub. They followed me and waited until I was about to shoot up, then burst in on me. They told me what they were going to do with me.” Jack shuddered, and stopped at that point. He had not told anyone what the UNIT men had intended to do.

 

Charlotte waited in silence for Jack to continue speaking. She could tell that this was important.

 

“They were going to weight me down with concrete, and drop me 100 miles offshore. Can you imagine what that would have been like?”

 

Charlotte could imagine how bad that would be for an ordinary man. Drowning was apparently not a peaceful death. But for Jack it would have been hell. Her reverie was cut off when Jack spoke again.

 

“I have drowned before. I could have coped with that. But I would have revived on the ocean floor and died again, and again and again. No one would have come. I could have been down there for centuries, in agony. I spent nine months dying on the Valiant, and I was a wreck. The idea of them doing that to me was more than I could take.”

 

It was hard even for Charlotte to keep her composure hearing this, never mind Jack.

 

“But then, Owen, Ianto and Tosh saved me. It was like a revelation. They fought for me against UNIT. It showed me that they were not my enemies, but in fact I could count on them as friends. That one event is what made me trust them again, and by extension the whole team.

 

* * * * *

 

Jack and Charlotte continued their session for another hour, until Jack had reached the present. Charlotte then called a halt. She had severely underestimated the amount of trauma that Jack had gone through since his return to Torchwood, only ten days previously. It was unbelievable, in what should have been a sanctuary for Jack. And what she had intended as a gentle introduction to therapy, had turned out to be an emotional roller coaster, and not just for Jack. Despite that, she was really pleased with the progress that they had made. After his initial reluctance to talk, Jack had opened the floodgates and been totally honest with her. He was obviously keen to make this work. And the fact that he had clearly accepted that the team were his friends, more subtle issues aside, and could be trusted to back him up, was very positive.

 

The session had left Jack drained, and with his emotions raw. He left the therapy room, but did not go immediately to his own room. Instead, he went up to the main Hub to look for Tosh. She had arrived for her shift during his session, and was working on her laptop. She looked up when he entered the room. He stretched out his hand a few inches towards her, and she saw the turmoil in his eyes. She responded immediately to his obvious need for comfort, and, taking his hand, steered him down to his room.

 

Owen watched Tosh go with Jack. He was going to be a person down for a while. But as long as there were no alerts, he could live with that. He'd have to make sure that Tosh was around whenever Jack had a session. He then headed down to the therapy room, to check with Charlotte how the session had gone, and to escort her out of the Hub.

 

  



	27. Chapter 27

Two days after he had sent the report to the Queen, Owen got a phone call summoning him to Buckingham Palace. The Queen wanted him to go alone, and as soon as possible.

 

Owen immediately phoned Mark, and asked him to come in and cover his shift. As soon as Mark arrived at the Hub, he headed for the train station. Trains to London went every half hour, so he wouldn't have to wait long. The train was far more efficient than driving and, as it wasn't peak commuting time, it was a comfortable trip. He arrived at Buckingham Palace three hours after leaving Cardiff, and was taken to a waiting room.

 

He had to wait for an hour before the Queen was able to join him, but he was provided with a sumptuous afternoon tea, served by a butler.

 

When the Queen, and her aide, did arrive, Owen leaped to his feet and made a small bow. “Ma'am.”

 

“Good afternoon Doctor Harper, it was good of you to come so quickly, I'm sorry you had to wait.”

 

“Not at all, Ma'am. I understand how busy you are.”

 

“Please, sit down,” the Queen invited graciously, as she took her own seat. “You remember my legal advisor?” she asked. “He is here to make sure that I don't make any legal faux pas.”

 

“Indeed,” Owen confirmed, with a nod. “Sir Richard, it's good to see you again.”

 

“I was shocked, to say the least, to learn of the allegations that you and Jack Harkness are making against UNIT,” the Queen advised Owen. “Are you sure of your facts?”

 

“Absolutely Ma'am. It is not just Jack's word. We have corroborating evidence from one of the UNIT guards at the prison that he was held in. And the fact that UNIT attempted to kidnap Jack, after he had been pardoned, does imply that they had something to hide and were extremely worried.”

 

The Queen sighed. “To be honest, Jack's word would have been sufficient for me. But one must go through the proper channels. We have had Mr Peterson called to London for interview. That will take place tomorrow. His superiors, of course, are unaware of this. Assuming that he confirms the events, there will be serious repercussions, not only for Major Stamford and Colonel Oduya individually, but for UNIT as a whole. As you will know, their attempt to obtain information about Torchwood, a successful attempt as I understand it, is nothing short of treason. I am head of Torchwood and hence any action taken against it, or the people who run it on my behalf, is an action against the crown.”

 

“Yes Ma'am,” Owen acknowledged.

 

“Also,” the Queen continued, keen to assure Owen that there were other issues equally important, “it is completely unacceptable for UNIT to torture or abuse any prisoners, for whatever reason.”

 

“Can I ask what steps you intend to take?” Owen ventured, knowing that it was very early days, and Her Majesty would need to consult her advisors before a final decision would be made.”

 

The Queen was remarkably forthcoming. “Assuming that Peterson confirms the information that you have presented, our priority will be to bring Oduya and Stamford to justice,” she explained. “Apparently they were both sent on highly secret, but separate, missions, the day after UNIT's attempt to kidnap Jack. We need to find them, without alerting them that we are looking, and having them go even further underground. For that reason no action will be taken against anyone else in UNIT, for the time being. Once we have them, that will be a different matter.”

 

“It won't be safe for Jack to leave the Hub until they are caught,” Owen pointed out. “How are you going to find them?”

 

“I will send SAS agents after them,” the Queen explained with a small smile. “We know where they went, when they left the UK. The agents will follow their trails from there. Once we've located both of them, I'll send a squad in to extract them.”

 

“Is that legal?”

 

“As legal as many undercover operations that take place,” the Queen answered noncommittally. “Are you saying that you would object?”

 

“Christ no, those fucking bastards deserve everything they get after what they did to Jack!” Owen exclaimed. He blushed bright red as he realised what he had just said, to the Queen of all people. “Erm, sorry Ma'am, I mean no, I don't object.”

 

The Queen merely looked amused. “Leaving aside the way I deal with UNIT, there is another important issue. The EMP device. I have talked to General Ingham and he confirms that the device was never found, and that no one knows who built and used it. Jack is from the future, and highly technologically competent. It makes sense that he would be able to build it. So I believe his story, despite the lack of direct corroboration. And it infuriates me that someone who did that, and was thereby instrumental in bringing down the Master, was treated as a traitor and imprisoned. When I issued Jack's pardon, it was bad enough that all he would receive was a pardon, with it's implicit assumption of guilt forgiven. The kind of duress that Jack was under was not something that anyone could have resisted. What he should have received was vindication. And the law is at fault.”

 

Sir Richard Featherstone nodded in agreement at that.

 

“And knowing all the facts,” the Queen continued, “I can no longer tolerate that. I will not allow a hero to be labelled a murderer and traitor. I am therefore going to put it right. I will change the law so that extreme duress, of the type that no one could hope to withstand, coupled with evidence that resistance was present, will be accepted as a valid defence against murder and treason. And I will make sure that the new law is retrospective, so will apply to Jack's case.”

 

Owen was flabbergasted. He had thought the pardon was as good an outcome as Jack could possibly get. “Can you do that?” he stammered.

 

“I will do it,” the Queen stated categorically. “It will take time. It will have to pass through Parliament. But I will make it clear that this new law has my highest priority, and that, if it is blocked, I will no longer feel able to grant royal assent to other legislation passed by the Houses of Parliament. If that does not bring MPs round to my point of view, my next step would be dissolution of Parliament. And, if I do that, it is within my power to appoint anyone I want to the post of Prime Minister. Harriet Jones would be the first name that springs to mind.”

 

Owen was open mouthed in shock, as the Queen outlined the steps she would take to push through her new legislation. He knew that the Monarch had the powers she had just mentioned, but they never used them. It would cause a major political upheaval if she did. “You would do all that for Jack?”

 

“He helped save the Earth, and was unjustly treated. It is the right thing to do,” was the Queen's adamant reply. Then she smiled. “Anyway, I don't think anyone is going to be so staunchly against my new law, that they would risk their political lives over it, do you?”

 

Owen laughed. For almost all MPs, and indeed the Prime Minister, keeping their positions, and getting re-elected, were their main priorities. They would not do anything to trigger an early election.

 

The Queen then glanced at Sir Richard, who stood and said “If there is nothing that you need me for now Ma'am, I will continue with my duties.” He bowed to the Queen, nodded politely to Owen, and left the room.

 

“Sir Richard was here for the official part of this meeting,” the Queen explained. “Now I'd just like to have an informal chat. Tell me how Jack is.”

 

Owen knew, from his last meeting with her, that Jack was a long time friend of the Queen's. He hated to have to tell her the condition that Jack was in. He begin hesitantly. “It's not good news, I'm afraid. He's a mess. It took us two months to find him, after you pardoned him. When we did find him, he was stoned out of his mind on heroin. He could never kick it after UNIT addicted him.” Owen left out any mention of the prostitution, feeling that the Queen did not need to know that. She already knew about Jack's time in prison. That was bad enough.

 

“We took him back to Torchwood, and tried to keep him there, for his own good. But he was so desperate for drugs that he escaped as soon as he could. UNIT grabbed him practically as soon as he left the Hub. They must have been watching us for weeks.”

 

“And you never noticed?” asked the Queen in surprise.

 

Owen was ashamed to admit that they had not. “They were using the highest tech miniature cameras,” he explained. “No one would have spotted those, unless they were specifically looking. Luckily, we realised he was missing quickly, and since we had planted a tracer under his skin, it didn't take long to find him. He was being threatened by three men, who we later discovered were UNIT personnel. We shot them before we knew that,” he acknowledged, “but it wouldn't have made any difference. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Jack is still completely addicted to heroin. We are hoping to get him off the drugs gradually, while treating his PTSD, which as you would expect is really bad. We have found a therapist for him. She's only done one session with him so far, but I have high hopes.”

 

“I'm so sorry to hear that,” the Queen exclaimed. “Though from the reports you sent, I feared it would be bad. Tell me, are you having difficulty looking after Jack and manning Torchwood?”

 

“Yes,” Owen agreed. “It's been difficult ever since we received the DVDs. We've been spending a lot of man hours on this.”

 

“Right. Well then, you had better get more staff. Hire as many as you think you need. The funding will be provided,” she promised. “And any funding you need for Jack's therapy, or treatment, will also be provided. You don't need to use existing Torchwood funds to cover it.”

 

Though Owen was very pleased at the offer of more staff, he knew it would not be simple. “Thank you. But it's not just a question of funding for staff,” he pointed out. “It's finding suitable people. I would poach UNIT staff, since there are some good people in UNIT. But I don't think that would go down well with Jack, or the others, particularly Tosh, ” he added wryly.

 

“No, I can see the problem,” the Queen agreed. “But, however you want to proceed, you have my full backing.”

 

“Thank you, I really appreciate that,” Owen replied. “And there is some good news. Jack and Tosh have got together. She's helping him a lot.”

 

“That's good to hear,” the Queen said, with a smile. “But what happened to that nice young man Jack was seeing before all this? Mr Jones, wasn't it?”

 

“It's complicated,” Owen began. “You probably didn't get the whole picture from the reports we sent you. There were several events that occurred, on the Valiant and afterwards, that make it difficult for Jack to fully forgive Ianto. So their relationship has been strained since we found Jack. They aren't together anymore.”

 

“I see. That is a shame, but at least he has someone. I'm pleased about that.” With that, the Queen rose and rang a bell to summon her aide. “It's time for us to finish for today. But be assured that I will keep you informed about our progress regarding Major Stamford and Colonel Oduya. You may tell your staff, and Jack, that they are being sought, but make it clear that this must not go any further.”

 

At that moment, the Queen's personal assistant came into the room. “Ah, Perkins. Could you see Doctor Harper out?”

 

“Of course Ma'am. This way sir.”

 

Owen stood up and gathered his coat. “Thank you for everything Ma'am.”

 

“You're welcome. Oh, and Doctor Harper.”

 

Owen turned back. “Yes Ma'am.”

 

“Don't tell Jack anything about the new law. It could take a long time, and I would hate to get his hopes up before it is all confirmed.”

 

“Of course not Ma'am,” Owen confirmed. He then followed Perkins out. Time to head back to Cardiff.

 

  



	28. Chapter 28

Owen was in London when Jack had his second therapy session. Tosh was on duty, along with Mark, Ianto and Gwen. Owen had scheduled Tosh's shifts to make sure that she was in the Hub whenever Jack was due out of a therapy session. He had also increased the number of people on duty, so that they would be covered if Jack needed her.

 

The previous day, Charlotte and Owen had discussed the schedule for Jack's sessions. They had decided that she would see Jack for a session on two, out of every three, days. The day off would be when Jack was due to take his heroin. Charlotte would go down to London to see her other patients, and family, on those days.

 

This time, as instructed, Charlotte turned up at the tourist information centre and went inside. Ianto was manning the desk, waiting for her. He smiled and indicated that she should come through the back. They went down into the Hub, where Gwen and Mark were working. There was no sign of Tosh.

 

“You haven't met Gwen yet, have you?” queried Ianto.

 

“No,” confirmed Charlotte. “She was off shift last time I was here.”

 

“I'll introduce you then.” Ianto led Charlotte over to Gwen's desk. “Gwen, this is Charlotte Nash. She's Jack's therapist. She's to be given free reign of the Hub whenever she comes here.”

 

Gwen stood up and shook Charlotte's hand. “I'm so glad to meet you,” she exclaimed, effusively. “I really hope that you can help Jack. We've all been so worried about him.”

 

Charlotte smiled. Gwen was brash, and, from what she had heard, prone to putting her foot in it, but she clearly cared a lot about Jack. “I hope so too,” she replied. “I'm here for a session with him now.”

 

“Why don't you go down to the therapy room?” Ianto suggested. “I'll make the coffee and tell Jack that you're here.”

 

* * * *

 

Fifteen minutes later Charlotte and Jack were ensconced in the therapy room, coffee and chocolate biscuits in hand.

 

Charlotte sighed in pleasure as she sipped her coffee. “This is going to spoil me for coffee anywhere else,” she commented.

 

“Oh yes,” Jack agreed. “Ianto is justifiably famous for his coffee.”

 

After another couple of minutes of small talk, Charlotte moved over to the serious aspect of their meetings. “Last time, we talked about events after Torchwood found you in Manchester. This time, why don't we start from the beginning? Explain to me how you ended up on the Valiant.” She was pleased by how much calmer Jack looked in this session, compared to the last time. Hopefully he would become more and more comfortable talking to her, each time.

 

Jack leaned back, gathering his thoughts. “That's a very long story,” he said eventually.

 

“That's no problem,” Charlotte assured him. “We're not on a schedule here.”

 

“OK,” Jack agreed. “But I'll give you the abridged version anyway. I guess I have to go back to when I was travelling with the Doctor. Do you know who he is?” he asked.

 

“I have heard of him,” Charlotte replied. “He is a traveller in time and space, and an enemy of Torchwood, I thought.”

 

“That's partly right,” Jack explained. “Time and space yes, enemy no. He only ever tried to help, and has saved Earth many times. I met him in 1940, and travelled with him for several months. We ended up on an artificial Satellite, orbiting Earth in the year 200,100. The Daleks … , you know who they are, right?” he checked.

 

Oh yes. Charlotte was well aware of the Daleks. She had counselled several survivors of Canary Wharf. “God yes,” she exclaimed.

 

“They were plotting to destroy Earth, and the Doctor stopped them,” Jack continued, before breaking off again, grimacing as he remembered those events.

 

Seeing the grimace, Charlotte deduced that there was a lot more to those events than Jack was so far admitting, something personal. “Did something happen between you there?” she asked.

 

Cursing therapists who could read body language, as if it was your mind, Jack came to the conclusion that he might as well tell all. She was going to know everything about the Valiant and the UNIT prison. Painful though it was, this was hardly comparable, in terms of personal humiliation and trauma. “He abandoned me,” he stated bluntly. “He sent me up against the Daleks, to buy him time to create a machine to destroy them. We both knew it was a suicide mission. But that was OK, I was willing to do that to stop the Daleks. I hadn't always been on the side of good. That was my chance to make up for my past.” Jack paused there for a moment, fighting down his anger. “The Daleks killed me. It was my first death, though I didn't realise that when I woke up. And then I saw the Doctor leave in the TARDIS without me.”

 

The last sentence had come out as a bitter sneer. Charlotte could tell that this was an extremely significant event for Jack. “He must have thought you were dead,” she exclaimed. “No one would just abandon a man who had done what you did.”

 

“You'd think that, wouldn't you?” Jack agreed. “And for years I convinced myself that that is what had happened. But I was wrong.”

 

“You mean he knew you were alive?” blurted out Charlotte, shocked.

 

“Yes. I waited for him in Cardiff, since I hoped the TARDIS would, one day, refuel using the rift. It took 100 years, but eventually he showed up. He saw me, and tried to do another runner. I caught up though, and he made it very clear that I was 'wrong' and an abomination that shouldn't exist. He admitted that he knew that I was alive, and had deliberately left me. 'Busy life, moving on,' he said,” Jack growled.

 

“That's appalling,” Charlotte put in.

 

“Yeah,” agreed Jack, calming down somewhat. “But you know what I did? I forgave him. Not just for abandoning me, but for trying to get away when I found him again. And, like a mug, I carried on following his orders, just like I did when I had been his companion. That's how I ended up on the Valiant.”

 

Charlotte looked puzzled, so Jack explained further.

 

“When I caught up with the Doctor, the TARDIS flew to the end of the universe. That's where we encountered the Master, and that set in motion the events that led to him taking over the Earth. It was our fault. We followed him back to Earth, and were trying to stop him by sneaking on to the Valiant. We might have been able to kill him, there was an opportunity, but the Doctor wanted to do things differently.” And it still plagued Jack, not knowing if that plan would have worked. “Anyhow, we ended up captured. The Master had seen me die, and revive, at the end of the universe, so he knew what he could do with me.”

 

Charlotte shuddered at the thought of what had happened to Jack on the Valiant, but she put that aside for the moment. “You seem to have a great capacity to forgive,” she commented. “Not many people would have forgiven being abandoned, let alone that person trying to get away when you caught up with them.”

 

“I am too forgiving,” Jack agreed bitterly. “I have done a lot of bad things in my life, and, in particular, when I was a child I make a huge mistake. I desperately wanted forgiveness then, so I have always felt that the least I can do is give it when someone else needs it. And I loved him.” He shook his head. “But the Doctor never even apologised. I don't think he was even sorry that he abandoned me. And, when the Master was defeated, he left without a backward glance. I could have explained to him what had happened, and the part I'd been playing. But, from what I've been told, he was so wrapped up in grieving for that sadistic fuck, that he never gave me a thought. So I'm done with him now. I'm afraid that, for him, my forgiveness has run out. I no longer care if I ever see him again.”

 

Charlotte couldn't help but think that Jack would be better off without his blind loyalty to the Doctor. That had clearly led to nothing but mental and physical trauma for him. The Torchwood team were a different matter. “But you forgave the others for allowing UNIT to take you, didn't you?” she asked. “You told me last time that you trust them again, so you must have forgiven them.”

 

“Oh, I've forgiven them for that,” Jack replied. “And at least they were desperately sorry. Not like the Doctor,” he added, somewhat snidely. “They are always very sorry,” he murmured softly.

 

“Always?” queried Charlotte.

 

“Yeah, it's not the first time they … let me down.” Jack had been about to say `betrayed', but perhaps that was a bit harsh. At least for the last time, when he had deliberately convinced them that he deserved to be incarcerated.

 

“What did they do before?” Charlotte asked. It might not be strictly relevant to Jack's case of PTSD, but any background information could be useful.

 

“Well, if you mean Ianto, he hid a cyberwoman in the basement of the Hub, and initiated a sexual relationship with me to give him grounds for hanging around after hours.”

 

Charlotte was gobsmacked. It seemed that every time she asked a question, she opened up a massive can of worms. How could one man have such a history of being betrayed, even one as old as Jack?

 

“But, but … I thought you and he were an item. Weren't you two in love, before the Valiant?” she stuttered.

 

“We were,” Jack confirmed, with an ironic grin. “My huge capacity for forgiveness,” he reminded her. “Believe it or not, that wasn't as bad as what I did as a child. And Ianto was sorry.” And he had been, eventually. After he had got over the fact that Jack had executed his girlfriend. “We got past it, and we were in love. Or at least I was. With everything that has happened since, I'm no longer sure about Ianto.”

 

“And the others, what did they do?”

 

“It was just before the Doctor landed in Cardiff,” Jack explained. “We were investigating an entity called Bilis Manger, who could travel in time at will. The rift was going wild, causing mayhem. Manger manipulated the others, using visions, to try and get them to open the rift and release Abbadon; a creature that fed on life energy. They all saw people they loved; dead people. These visions convinced them that, to save everyone, the rift had to be opened. It was a trick of course. I was the only one who refused to open it. But they needed my retinal pattern, and password, to do it. Ianto figured out the password, but I tried to stop them. So Owen shot me dead, while Ianto, Gwen and Tosh looked on.”

 

“Oh my god,” Charlotte exclaimed. She couldn't imagine the caring man, that Owen seemed to be, ever doing that. “But at least he knew that you'd come back to life.”

 

Jack laughed ruefully. “Not then he didn't. He thought it was for keeps. The only one who knew was Gwen.”

 

Hearing this, Charlotte was having major difficulty maintaining a professional demeanor. Seeing her horrified expression, Jack added “I forgave them. As I've explained, I am capable of forgiving a lot. But there was also a less altruistic aspect to it.” His voice dropped with shame. “What else could I do? I had to stay in Cardiff to wait for the Doctor. Torchwood was my whole life. If I had not forgiven them, I would have had nothing.”

 

Jack's history of forgiving belied his words. Charlotte was convinced that he would have forgiven his team, irrespective of such thoughts. He seemed to be trying to rationalise forgiving what should have been unforgivable.

 

“But then, just after that, the Doctor turned up,” Jack continued, “and I had to chase after him. I didn't get time to say goodbye, or even leave a note. They must have thought I'd run off because of what they had done.” He laughed again, hollowly. “It turned out to be useful. On the Valiant, I used all this to convince them that I had crossed over to the Master's side. It worked like a dream.”

 

So, Jack had gone into the situation on the Valiant on the heels of two betrayals, one by his team and one by the Doctor. Given that, it was very hard for Charlotte to understand why he had chosen to sacrifice himself for those people. “They must have been amazed to find out that you hadn't gone over, after everything that they did,” she surmised.

 

“Yes, and it took seeing the DVDs to convince them that I hadn't. They wouldn't believe me when I tried to tell them.” Talking about it had clarified Jack's thoughts, and made one thing clear. “I've reached my limit. I couldn't forgive any of them if they do anything to let me down again.”

 

And no wonder, thought Charlotte, angrily. But she kept her emotions in check. Despite what she thought of the team's actions, it was Jack's feelings that mattered. Her own had no place in the session. “What are your feelings for Ianto now?” asked Charlotte. “I know that you are no longer together, and that you are seeing Tosh.”

 

“How did you know that?” Jack asked in surprise.

 

“Owen gave me a thorough briefing before we started our sessions,” Charlotte explained. “He thought I should know all relevant facts.”

 

Jack nodded in acquiescence. “Although I forgave the whole team for what they did, including Ianto, he was my lover. He, more than the others, should have stood by me, no matter what he thought. But he was actually more cruel than the others. He did too much damage. I have forgiven him as a friend, but I can't see him as a lover.”

 

“Do you think that could change?” asked Charlotte.

 

“I don't know. In time, possibly,” acknowledged Jack. “But it's much too soon. He has let me down three times now. Like the Doctor. But he is genuinely sorry for it, unlike the Doctor, so we may be able to work past it. Don't get me wrong. I'm no angel, I'm sure if you asked Ianto he could come up with times that I've let him down. But that doesn't make it any easier.”

 

“And Tosh. Have you forgiven her sufficiently to be in a full relationship with her?”

 

“She never treated me as badly as the others on the Valiant,” Jack explained. “And she is the only one who would have protected me, before my pardon, while UNIT were still after me. She did more for me than the man who was supposed to love me. I feel safe with her emotionally, in a way that I don't with Ianto. She helps.”

 

Charlotte smiled. “I'm glad that she does.” Although it did worry her, Charlotte did not say anything about the potential pitfalls of having two relationships coming to fruition at the same time. It might never happen of course, but it would be something to watch out for.

 

Glancing at the clock, Charlotte realised that they had run over the allocated time. It would not do to over stress Jack, so she wound up the session. Jack was not as emotionally distraught this time as he had been before. That was more than could be said for her, though she hid it perfectly.

 

“I'll be down in London tomorrow,” Charlotte told Jack. “So we'll have our next session in two days.”

 

Jack nodded, knowing full well that the real reason was that the next day was heroin day.

 

Tosh was waiting in the main Hub, when they made their way up. Charlotte smiled to her in greeting, but, not wanting to interfere if Jack needed Tosh, left formal introductions for another time. Ianto arrived then, to escort her from the Hub. She bit back her fury. It wouldn't be professional to react to anything that she learned in a session. But she could hardly believe how many times Ianto had let Jack down. And not just let down, but betrayed! And, as for Owen; he had murdered a friend in cold blood. She was truly shocked about that. But of course she could never mention it, or let it change her attitude to him in any way. She had been horrified by the lack of support for Jack that the team had showed after the Valiant before, and now, knowing their previous history, she was even more outraged.


	29. Chapter 29

Tosh sat at the lunch table in the Hub, having a cup of coffee. She was having a short break from working on a program to improve the rift predictor. She was alone with her thoughts, as Ianto and Owen were out on a weevil hunt and Jack was in his therapy session with Charlotte. Joanne was in the Hub, but deeply involved in the autopsy of an unfortunate alien who had fallen through the rift and died, probably due to the toxic effect of Earth's atmosphere on it. The others were off duty.

 

As she sat, Tosh mused on the events of the past month; since Jack had started his therapy.

 

A couple of weeks ago, she had discovered that she was not pregnant. She had to admit to a twinge of disappointment. She had liked the idea of having Jack's baby. It had surprised her, but, when she thought that it could happen, she had found that she was ready for a family. But, after the disappointment, came relief that she would not be causing Jack any extra stress. It would have been incredibly complicated. And the last thing Jack needed were more complications in his life.

 

Taking a sip of her coffee, she smiled to herself. Things between Jack and her were wonderful. She loved Jack wholeheartedly, and, while she knew that Jack's feelings for her were not as strong, he needed her. She believed that he did love her, though he never said the words. He was always tender and loving towards her, even when he was emotionally overwrought. She liked to believe that they were a couple.

 

It was a strange situation; dating someone who could not leave the Hub. They couldn't do any of the things that normal couples would do. They couldn't go down the pub, to a restaurant, for a walk in the park, or visit the theatre. It was incredibly frustrating for Jack, who was going stir crazy from the confinement. In an attempt to make his life more normal, Tosh had arranged for a high class restaurant to deliver a three course meal to the Hub. With the cooperation of the others, they had managed to have a private, romantic, meal for two, right where she was now sitting. She had brought a selection of DVDs, books and games for Jack, including a DS. He had turned out to be quite a Star Trek fan, and a whizz at Professor Layton. They had also played chess many times. To Tosh's surprise they were quite well matched. It was rare for her to find a worthy opponent. She had played Owen once. Something that he would never agree to again, after being humiliatingly defeated.

 

She suddenly gave a small ironic laugh. What was she thinking? Being unable to leave the Hub was the least strange thing about dating Jack. He was a torture victim, with severe PTSD, and a massive addiction to heroin. Torchwood had given her a seriously skewed vision of the world.

 

The rest of the Torchwood team had been very supportive, once their shock at she and Jack getting together had subsided. They covered extra shifts, so that she could be with Jack after his therapy sessions. Even Ianto, who had every reason to be upset at their relationship, did everything he could to help. Tosh was extremely grateful to him for his understanding, and his determination to help Jack. She could not help some anxiety though, over Ianto. He was clearly still in love with Jack, though he had accepted that this was not reciprocated. But would Jack's feelings remain that way? Jack would eventually forgive Ianto, Tosh had no doubt. That was the sort of man he was. And what would happen then? Would Jack return to Ianto, leaving her bereft?

 

Tosh shook herself. Time to stop these maudlin thoughts. She should be looking on the bright side.

 

Jack's therapy was going well, though slowly. He had told her snippets of what he discussed with Charlotte. The therapist was giving him as much time as he needed to talk through his experiences. So far they had covered his first five weeks on the Valiant; the time before the Torchwood team had been used against him.

 

Owen had reduced Jack's dose for the first time, by 5mg, after he had been in therapy for two weeks. Then, since he remained stable for the next two weeks, they had reduced it again. Admittedly it was only a tiny reduction, which meant that, if they kept that rate of decrease, it would take 10 years for him to stop taking any. And that was if he had no relapses into traumatic memories. But it was a start.

 

The best news had been from Owen's visit to the Queen. The level of support that she was offering Torchwood, was a real boost. Owen had already started searching for suitable candidates for extra staff. It would help them enormously. And knowing that the SAS were on the trail of Stamford and Oduya, and they would be brought to justice, was balm to Jack's soul.

 

Also very beneficial to Jack, had been a visit from Harriet Jones. Owen had finally got around to telling her that they had found Jack, and that he was at the Hub. Since she was instrumental in helping them to get Jack pardoned, he should probably have told her as soon as they had found him in Manchester. But Jack had been such a mess, that Owen had thought it better not to expose him to even more people, at that time. And he did not think that Harriet would have kept away. Harriet and Jack were clearly very good friends, and Jack had been delighted to see her. He obviously trusted her implicitly, and showed no reluctance to be touched or hugged by her. He was far enough into his therapy, that Charlotte had calmed him into being more accepting of the fact that people had seen the DVDs from the Valiant. To Tosh's relief, there had been no hint of anything other than friendship between them. Harriet had promised to visit again, which had made Jack happy. Tosh found that she was looking forward to it.

 

Her coffee was finished, so Tosh took her cup to the kitchen and left it in the sink. She then went back to the computer, to work. She knew that Jack wouldn't be much longer in his session, though, so she did not try to do anything too involving.

 

* * * * *

 

Half an hour later, Jack and Charlotte emerged from the lower levels. Charlotte looked shell shocked. She waved weakly at Tosh, and headed out of the Hub. She was familiar enough with the Hub now, that she could see herself out. Myfanwy swooped down at her, as she crossed the walkway, but she didn't flinch.

 

Tosh left her work station and moved over to Jack, taking his hand. “All right?” she asked. But this time Jack looked wrecked after his session. It had obviously affected him, and Charlotte, deeply. He and Tosh went down to his room, where they cuddled on the bed.

 

“We covered the first time that I let the Master rape me, today,” Jack told her, with a shudder. “It was when he told me he had you and the others on the Valiant. He killed me so many times while he did it, that I lost count, and he made me thank him at the end.” He didn't mention the five days he spent on the spike that he had also discussed with Charlotte.

 

Tosh's heart nearly broke for Jack. Thankfully she had not seen that DVD, though she knew of the events, as that incident had been part of Jack's defence. She hugged him close, and soothed him gently.

 

“In the next few sessions we'll get to the day when the Master offered me the bargain,” he continued. That day was going to be one of the most difficult for him to talk about. It was the day that he sold his body and soul. And Charlotte was bound to ask him if he thought it was worth it.

 

* * * * *

 

When Ianto and Owen got back to the Hub, they stowed the unconscious weevils they had captured in the cells. Owen went back up to his office, to find a message, written in Joanne's practically illegible scrawl. 'Call the Palace,' it said.

 

You didn't ignore a message like that, so Owen phoned their direct line to the Palace immediately.

 

After the call he rushed out into the main Hub. “Hey, Ianto, Joanne! Great news. They found Stamford. The SAS are keeping a watch on him, but they haven't moved in, in case it tips off Oduya. They're going to wait until they have them both found, before they take them in. And, after that, they can move against the rest of the UNIT personnel from the prison.

 

Ianto was delighted. “That's great! I'll go give Jack and Tosh the good news.”

 

“Knock loudly and wait five minutes, won't you,” advised Joanne, with a laugh. “You wouldn't want to embarrass them, would you?”

 

“Jack is incapable of being embarrassed,” Ianto pointed out. “But for Tosh's sake, I will do that.” He walked down to the lower levels with a smile.

 


	30. Chapter 30

A week went by, and four more of Jack's sessions with Charlotte. Jack had been procrastinating but he knew that, in the next session, Charlotte would want him to discuss the bargain with the Master. It was preying on his mind and he was forcing himself to consider what he would do if he had the choice again. As he lay in bed, he realised that he knew the answer.

With hindsight there was no doubt that he should have let the team die. The destruction of the paradox machine and the reset of time made that obvious. But he had had no idea when he made the bargain with the Master that a paradox machine was involved and that time would be reset. What was causing him sleepless nights was what he thought he would do if faced with that situation again.

* * * *

The next morning, when Jack emerged from his room and made himself breakfast, Ianto was sitting alone in the kitchen area having coffee.

As Jack sat down next to him Ianto noticed that he was skittish and avoiding looking him in the eye. This worried him as he had thought that he and Jack had come to an understanding and a start at renewed friendship.

“What's wrong, Jack?” Ianto asked tentatively.

Jack flushed and looked guilty. “It's nothing,” he responded.

“Have I done something wrong?” Ianto asked, determined not to just brush Jack's strange behaviour under the carpet. If there was a problem he needed to know so that they could sort it out.

“No,” Jack replied. “I'm just edgy because Charlotte wants me to talk about the deal with the Master today.”

“Is that worse than the other things you've been talking about?” queried Ianto with surprise. He had thought that Jack would have already spoken to the therapist about some of the most traumatic events he suffered on the Valiant.

“It's not talking about the bargain itself that worries me,” Jack admitted. “She knows the broad outline of it anyway. It's that she'll ask me what I think about it now.”

Not really understanding why talking about that would make Jack so skittish, Ianto pressed the point. “But why would that make you so uncomfortable to be around me, Jack? I thought we were OK as friends now.”

“We are,” Jack assured him, “but I feel guilty.”

Ianto was shocked. “You are the last man on Earth who should be feeling guilty about anything relating to me!”

“Don't you get it Ianto?” Jack snapped suddenly. “I regret it! I wish I had let him kill you, and the others. Then I'd have a life, like I did before. What kind of a man does that make me?”

“Oh, Jack!” Ianto cried with sympathy. “You don't have to feel guilty about that. I regret it too. I would gladly have died to spare you pain.”

Seeing the utter sincerity in Ianto's face, Jack relaxed somewhat. “So you aren't angry about that?”

“Of course not,” Ianto answered, “and the others wouldn't be angry either. You must know how much we all wish we could have saved you from the Master, even if that meant dying ourselves.”

“And if it had been permanent, as I expected? If time had not reset?” Jack demanded.

“Even then,” Ianto declared with complete sincerity.

A small smile appeared on Jack's face. Perhaps the session with Charlotte would not be so bad.

 

* * * *

 

Owen was reading through a stack of files in his office when Ianto knocked on his door.

“I'm about to go off shift,” Ianto told him. “Would you like coffee before I go?”

“Oh, yes please,” Owen replied, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. He had a small stack of files set to his right, a large stack on his left and a few in the centre that he was still going through.

“Problem?” Ianto asked, indicating the files.

“Potential new recruits,” Owen explained. “The Queen has given us carte blanche to hire new people. But it's hard to know where to look for them. We can hardly put out a job advert in The Guardian. These are files from people who have applied to MI6, GCHQ and the armed forces. The Queen put them on the lookout for any candidates that we might want to consider.”

Ianto laughed. “There was a time when MI6 and GCHQ wouldn't put job adverts out either, but now you can apply online,” he commented. “Maybe we will be able to advertise one day.”

“Most of these aren't useful,” Owen told him. “But there are a few worth meeting. We'll have to arrange to interview them.”

“So you'll tell them that we deal with aliens?” queried Ianto.

“How can we recruit if I don't?” Owen responded. “And that means if they don't want to come and work for Torchwood, or we don't want them, they'll have to be retconned.”

* * * *

That evening, Tosh, Gwen and Joanne met up at The Falcon pub in Roath. Before all the trauma of finding out about Jack and the Valiant they had had a regular girls' night out once a month. Now that things had calmed down somewhat they decided to resurrect the tradition.

Tosh and Joanne grabbed a table as Gwen got the first round in. They ordered their food quickly and, as they ate, discussed trivial stuff like the X-factor and The Apprentice.

After two more rounds they were all a bit tipsy and got down to more personal girl talk. Gwen regaled them with all the ups and downs of her and Rhys's life since their last girls' night out.

“It's all very well for you, Gwen,” Joanne put in. “But I haven't had a boyfriend in over a year and only a handful of dates that never lead to anything more. They tend to be put off by the antisocial hours I keep, and the fact I keep cancelling or, worse, having to run off in the middle of the date.”

“I guess it was easier for me and Rhys because we were together for several years before I joined Torchwood,” Gwen surmised. “He just had to put up with it at that point.”

“It was just the same for me,” Tosh said, agreeing with Joanne. “I hadn't been out with anyone for ages. Unless you count Tommy, that soldier who was frozen.”

“I always thought that you and Owen would get together,” Gwen admitted, “before Karen came on the scene of course.”

“So did I,” agreed Tosh, “but he didn't seem to feel the same. Anyway, he and Karen make a great couple.”

“Yes, and you and Jack do too,” Gwen added with a smile.

Tosh blushed. “I never thought he'd be interested in me.”

“Well you were wrong there,” Joanne said, “he seems besotted with you.”

“I wouldn't say besotted,” Tosh argued. “He needs me. But I'm certainly besotted with him.”

Gwen leaned forward conspiratorially. “So tell us, what's he like?”

Tosh looked blank. “What do you mean?”

“You know. What's he like in bed?” Gwen whispered.

“Gwen!” Tosh exclaimed.

“Oh don't be a prude Tosh. Enquiring minds want to know.”

“You're drunk, Gwen,” Tosh retorted. “And all I'll say is that I have no complaints.”

“I think it's time we headed off home,” suggested Joanne, who wasn't quite as tipsy as Gwen. “I'll go order a taxi.”

They dropped Gwen off at home first, then Tosh and Joanne continued in the taxi. “I'm really glad that you and Jack are making it work, Tosh. It'll be good for both of you.”

Tosh smiled happily. “It is, it really is.”


	31. Chapter 31

Weeks passed and life fell into a routine for Jack. Therapy sessions on two out of every three days, heroin on the third day. His dose was declining, but at a frustratingly slow rate. He filled in the large amount of free time by using the gym, the firing range, reading and playing chess. It was boring, but as Tosh pointed out to him 'boring is good'. The best part of life in the Hub was that, when she was not on shift, he and Tosh spent most of the nights together. Jack was happier than he'd been for years.

 

*** * * * ***

 

The recruitment of new personnel had gone slowly, as Owen rarely had much time to spend on it. It was ironic that it was the lack of staff that was preventing him hiring new staff. However, he had finally narrowed down the candidates for recruitment to ten. He then passed their files round the other members of the team, for their opinion. That cut the list down to six. A pretty good number for interviewing. They couldn't have the candidates seeing the Hub, so the interviews would be held at a local hotel. He, Tosh, Ianto and Gwen would be the panel.

 

* * * * *

 

The day of the interviews arrived. The Torchwood team headed off to the hotel to prepare. They had booked a function room for the interview, and a side room for the candidates to wait in. Coffee and biscuits were on hand, as was retcon. The candidate's appointments had been spaced well apart, so that each would be finished, and off the premises, before the next candidate arrived.

 

The first candidate was a twenty five year old man who had a glittering university record and had just completed a PhD in electronic engineering. His original application had been to GCHQ. Although promising on paper, the man reacted badly to their explanation about the true role of Torchwood, refusing point blank to believe in aliens.

 

As soon as it became obvious that things were not going well, Ianto got up and made coffee for everyone. One was spiked with retcon. The man left the interview believing that Torchwood was a covert surveillance operation, but did not offer the long term prospects he was looking for.

 

 

The second interview was marginally better, though the candidate was not as impressive in real life as on paper. Owen gave Ianto the signal to retcon the woman half an hour into the interview.

 

Fortunately three of the next four candidates were impressive and open minded. These people were offered positions instantly and were required to give their answers before leaving. All accepted.

 

Since they had no background in the military, the recruits were to undergo three weeks training at Catterick in North Yorkshire. There they would learn to shoot, fight, and to run. Assault courses would be very useful training for chasing aliens around the streets of Cardiff. Mark, with his police special ops background, would go with them and supervise them.

 

* * * * *

 

Although Tosh was very pleased that Torchwood was getting new staff, she was worried about one thing. Jack was still living in the Hub. How were they going to explain his presence to the new people. She broached this to Owen when all the candidates had left.

 

Owen had also been thinking about that. “You're right Tosh, we need to come up with a cover story for Jack. The last thing he needs is for his real situation to be known by another set of strangers.”

 

“Why don't we just use a partial version of the truth,” Tosh suggested. “All we need to say is that he is a high up member of a covert organisation, related to Torchwood, and his life has been threatened. So he needs to remain in a secure environment until the threat has been dealt with.”

 

“Sure,” smiled Owen. “That should work.”

 

* * * * *

 

The Queen was working in her study when her aide knocked on the door. He appeared to be quite excited when he entered. “Ma'am, they've found Oduya,” he blurted out. “He's in Antigua, of all places! It took so long to find him, because the SAS expected him to go to ground in a less,” he floundered for a minute waving his hand, “touristy location. They were originally concentrating their search in Africa and Central America.”

 

“The benefits of rank I suppose,” the Queen responded, “and Stamford ended up in Cameroon.” Shaking her head, she put her paperwork aside. “Call the head of the SAS in,” she ordered, “and the ambassadors for Antigua and Cameroon. It's time to make the arrests.”

 

* * * * *

 

The Queen chaired the meeting to discuss the proposed raid to arrest Stamford and Oduya. Two senior member of the SAS were present, along with the ambassadors and her own senior military advisor.

 

The discussion focused first on gaining the approval of the countries in which the raids would occur. It would not be good diplomacy to send the SAS on raids into independent countries, without obtaining their permission. Although they were members of the Commonwealth, and therefore she, as Queen of England, was their symbolic Head of State, there was no authority invested in the role. However, relations between the UK and both Antigua and Cameroon were very good, and she did not anticipate any objections. They might even assist.

 

The discussions went well, and both countries offered to provide local police or army personnel to work with the SAS. That agreed, they moved on to the exact timing of the raids. The SAS wanted them to be simultaneous. There was a 5 hour time difference between the two locations that needed to be taken into account. They needed time to coordinate the raids and agreed to schedule them in three days time, at midnight in Antigua and 5am in Cameroon. That gave the best chance of catching both targets asleep.

 

* * * * *

 

After the interviews were over Owen headed straight home. He was back at a sensible time for once.

 

Karen was amazed. “Hey, this is a turn up. I've only been home for five minutes myself!”

 

“We've hired three more staff,” Owen told her. “They'll start in a few weeks, after their training, and then just maybe I'll be able to come home on time more often.”

 

Karen smiled broadly. “We could become almost a normal couple. I wouldn't have to spend most of my time as a Torchwood widow.”

 

Owen hugged her. “We can but hope.”

 

* * * * *

 

Now that the recruitment process was complete and the new people were about to go off with Mark on their training course, Owen was a man down in the rota for Torchwood shifts. He came up with a solution that he thought would help, not just the team, but also Jack. It must be driving Jack stir crazy to be confined to the Hub with nothing to do all day.

 

Jack was with Tosh and Ianto in the kitchen area, having breakfast, when Owen found him. “Jack, I know you must be hellishly bored, stuck here in the Hub all day every day. Would you like to work the comms next time we're called out?”

 

Totally unexpectedly to everyone, including Jack, Jack froze. He then stood up, his chair falling to the floor behind him, and backed away, a look of total panic on his face. “No, no, no!” he cried. And turning, fled down the corridor. When he reached his room he threw himself on his bed, and trembled. He didn't even know why. He just knew that the idea terrified him. He couldn't do it.

 

In the kitchen Owen made as if to chase after him but Tosh caught his arm. Give him some space Owen, I'll go down to see him in a little while.

 

* * * *

 

A half hour after Jack had fled down to his room, Charlotte arrived for their scheduled session. Owen intercepted her on her way in and explained what had happened.

 

“Charlotte, do you have any idea why Jack flipped out when we asked him if he wanted to man the comms?”

 

Charlotte sighed. “I think he is terrified of having responsibility for anyone's life, even as indirectly as manning the comms. I mean look what happened before, when he considered himself responsible for you on the Valiant. And after what he had to do there, to keep you safe, he can't cope with even a slight hint of responsibility. To him responsibility equates to sacrifice, which equates to unparallelled pain and humiliation.”

 

“We had hoped that he would return to Torchwood, eventually,” Owen said.

 

“I really wouldn't count on that,” Charlotte replied. “Jack needs a time of peace, with no responsibilities, in order to heal. And that could take years. So you shouldn't make any plans to get him back into Torchwood.”

Owen looked disappointed but acquiesced, nodding. “You'd better get to your session. Jack and Tosh are down in his room.”

 

* * * * *

 

The SAS team advanced stealthily towards the UNIT base in Cameroon. This was three hours drive from the nearest town. They, and a cohort of 10 Cameroonian soldiers, had driven down the pothole ridden, dirt roads through the night. They had left the vehicles one mile from the base, so that the sound of the engines would not give them away.

 

“What the hell are UNIT doing with a base in the middle of nowhere?” grumbled one man.

 

They reached the fence at 4am and sent the signal that they were in position, ready and waiting for the signal to go in and snatch Stamford.

 

* * * * *

 

In Antigua, the mission was very different. Oduya was not hiding in a base far from the local population. He had gone to ground on a small base, hoping that the sheer insignificance of the ten man UNIT force on the island would enable him to escape notice by the UK authorities. And it had worked; he had been far more difficult to find than Stamford, who had fled to the most isolated part of Africa he could get to. Oduya wasn't even hiding from the local authorities. The base was at the edge of St John's, the largest city on the island. The team watching Oduya had seen him visit restaurants, bars, and even a night club. Their biggest problem in his arrest would be if he was out on the town at midnight, rather than asleep.

 

By 11pm it looked as if they would indeed have to arrest him in a public place. Oduya had settled in a sports bar and showed no signs of moving.

 

At 11:45 Oduya ordered another beer. Seeing this, the SAS leader ordered “We'll take him here, send the signal. Fifteen minutes to go.”

 

At exactly midnight four Antiguan police officers surrounded Oduya and politely asked him to accompany them to the police station.

 

Oduya was unarmed. UNIT personnel did not carry arms while off duty in Antigua. Glancing around he saw several men, who looked like plain clothes members of the security services. They had not been in evidence beforehand. Accepting that his crimes had come back to haunt him, and there would be no getting away from that, Oduya surrendered peacefully. In truth he had become tired of waiting for the axe to fall. As he left the bar he made eye contact with an off duty UNIT soldier. The man nodded and, as soon as Oduya and his captors had departed, he hurried back to the base to send a signal.

 

* * * * *

 

Shortly after 5am, the UNIT base in Cameroon received an urgent signal for Major Stamford. A young soldier rushed to the Major's room to inform him, but the room was empty. There was no sign of the Major, but the bedclothes were scattered about the room and the window was wide open.

 

* * * * *

 

 

The next morning, when the Queen rose, there were two messages waiting for her: one from Antigua and one from Cameroon. She smiled when she saw that both operations had been a success, and Stamford and Oduya were in custody. They were awaiting transport back to the UK. Once they were safely locked up in a military jail she would authorise the long planned operation to arrest the UNIT prison guards who had abused Jack Harkness.


	32. Chapter 32

Owen was in his office the morning after the raid, catching up with paperwork. At 10am the phone rang. It was the Palace, with the news they had waited so long for. Slamming the phone down, Owen rushed into the main Hub area and yelled, “They got them!”  
  
Tosh looked up uncomprehendingly. “Who got who?” she queried.  
  
“The SAS got Stamford and Oduya, of course,” Owen shouted with glee.  
  
Delight blossomed on Tosh's face. “Oh yes!” she crowed.  
  
Joanne had heard the commotion from the medical bay and walked in. “What's up?” she asked.  
  
When Tosh and Owen explained she smiled broadly. “We've got to tell Jack. Where is he?”  
  
“Jack and Charlotte are in their session at the moment,” Owen said. “I'll tell him the good news as soon as he comes out.”  
  
“This is fantastic,” Tosh exclaimed. “And now they'll arrest the soldiers who helped them. Jack will be able to leave the Hub soon and lead a normal life.”  
  
“Well, relatively normal,” she qualified, when assailed by the incredulous gazes of the others.  
  
* * * * *  
  
In their session, Charlotte and Jack had reached an important milestone. “So Jack. Can you tell me what happened on the last day of your time on the Valiant?” Charlotte asked.  
  
“I'm sure you know most of it,” Jack pointed out.  
  
“Some, but I want to hear your version of events,” she replied.  
  
“OK, I know the drill,” Jack acquiesced with a smile. After months of sessions he was well aware of the routine.  
  
Sobering, he collected his thoughts. “Well, you know from the last few sessions that I had built an EMP device, but I wanted to wait for an opportunity when it would do some good to activate it.”  
  
“It must have been hard, to wait,” Charlotte commented.  
  
“God yes, you have no idea how many times I just wanted to activate it and, if I couldn't kill the Master in the chaos, I was just going to jump. I hoped that he wouldn't be able to find me if that happened. But I knew that once the unaffected Toclafane showed up on the Valiant, he would have them all searching for me. I doubt that I would have lasted long before they found me. And it would have meant abandoning the others.”  
  
“Is that what stopped you?” Charlotte asked.  
  
“Yes. It's possible he wouldn't have carried out his threat, but not likely, even if I managed to stay free. So they would all have died horribly. And he would have been pissed off at me, so I'd have been just as badly off as I was before. It would have been much more sensible for me to agree to his terms and take the bargain.”  
  
“Your safety in return for their torture and death?” Charlotte clarified.  
  
“Yes. And I was very close to doing that,” Jack admitted. “So when the rebels attacked the Valiant it didn't take a genius to figure out it was then or never. It was pure luck that I wasn't chained up in that room when they arrived.”  
  
“And what happened when you activated it?”  
  
Jack laughed mirthlessly. “The lights went out.”  
  
Charlotte looked at him quizzically. “Is that all?”  
  
“No, but that's all I could see. I was in the bathroom where I'd hidden the device. I assumed the Toclafane had been knocked out as well as the lights, but I didn't know for sure.”  
  
“What did you do?”  
  
“It was pitch black. I groped my way out of the bathroom and tried to get somewhere with light. It was just my luck that the first people I ran into were the escaped prisoners. They all knew who I was...” Jack swallowed, “I was the Master's pet torturer, and the person who had killed their comrades. I suppose I can't blame them for the way they reacted.”  
  
Charlotte remained silent, waiting.  
  
“Ianto was there.”  
  
Charlotte gasped at that revelation.  
  
“And he didn't lift a finger to help me. Didn't try and stop what happened. He just stood back and let the mob beat me unconscious.”  
  
“And how do you feel about that?”  
  
“How do you think?” Jack retorted. “Intellectually I know that he was reacting to the persona that I had built, the evil sadistic torturer, but I couldn't help but feel that he should have at least wanted to stop it. For the sake of what we once had, even if he was totally oblivious to what I'd done to keep him safe. It was yet another betrayal.”  
  
Charlotte laid her hand on Jack's arm in a gesture of comfort.  
  
“When I woke up, I was locked in a cell. Gwen came to see me. She told me Ianto was dead.”  
  
“What!” exclaimed Charlotte.  
  
“Well,” clarified Jack. “She said that my lover was dead, and since the only person that had been my lover was Ianto, that's what I thought she meant. I suppose Tish would have been a possibility, from that one night, but Gwen didn't know anything about that.” He hesitated and then continued with distaste, “It turned out that she meant the Master. I didn't have a clue why at the time. Just the thought of him being my lover would make me sick.”  
  
“I can understand that,” murmured Charlotte with a shudder. She was well acquainted with the exact nature of Jack and the Master's physical relationship.  
  
“And then she dropped the bombshell. The Master's paradox machine was about to be dismantled.”  
  
“You knew what that meant then?” Charlotte queried.  
  
“Of course. Don't forget that I was a time agent in the 51st century. I understand exactly what happens if a paradox is undone. That would have been my salvation. All my sins forgotten.”  
  
Charlotte smiled at the oblique reference.  
  
“And then Gwen told me I had to stay on board, so that I could stand trial. I pleaded with her, begged her, but she wouldn't budge. And then she left and it was too late. Time was rewritten but I was left behind.”  
  
“I'm so sorry Jack.”  
  
“It's OK, I didn't deserve to forget. No matter what the reason, I did torture and kill innocent people.”  
  
“Jack,” Charlotte interrupted. “You must stop blaming yourself for that. You had no choice. Everyone understands that, including the law. Everyone has forgiven you, except yourself.”  
  
“When they took me off the Valiant I couldn't understand why no one would listen, and why Tish hadn't told them that I was the Master's victim not his henchman.” Jack's face crumpled. “Then Oduya told me she'd been evacuated before time reset. Why did she abandon me?” This was not a rhetorical question. Jack genuinely wanted an answer. He had been deeply hurt by Tish's apparent betrayal.  
  
“I can't give you an answer Jack,” Charlotte admitted sadly. “But, from what you've told me about her, I don't believe that she would ever have willing abandoned you. I know that the team tracked her down and verified that her memory of the Valiant had been erased. We'll probably never know what happened. But there could be an explanation: she could have been hurt in the fighting, and been taken off without even knowing what was happening. There aren't enough witnesses who retained their memory to ever find out.”  
  
“It's just that everyone else disowned and abandoned me,” Jack murmured, “even Ianto. He made it clear that I was nothing to him and never had been. I wanted to know that there was one person who never did.”  
  
“I believe that there was,” Charlotte insisted. “And you knew Tish, and how she felt about your plight. If you look in your heart don't you know if she would have betrayed you?”  
  
Jack was silent for a few moments, then smiled. “Yes. Yes I do know. She didn't abandon me. Something happened to prevent her from telling anyone. And you know what?”  
  
“What?” asked Charlotte.  
  
Jack smiled, broadly this time. “I don't need to know what it was.”


	33. Chapter 33

Since the Queen had first learned of the abuses at the UNIT prison, she had her security services working to put a plan in place to arrest all those guards whom Jack Harkness had named. The last thing they wanted to do was tackle the prison head on. That approach could turn ugly and lead to significant loss of life, most likely including innocent UNIT soldiers who believed they were defending the prison from an attack from an enemy.  
  
They had considered sending a senior soldier to the commander of the prison and asking him to hand over the men they wanted. But there was the possibility that the men to be arrested would panic and start shooting. They had therefore decided to adopt a more subtle approach. An agent working for them had infiltrated the UNIT prison administration department. He was able to ensure that all the people they were after were off duty on one particular night shift. Fifteen barracks rooms and two family houses were raided that night. The seventeen men arrested were taken to the same facility that housed Oduya and Stamford.  
  
* * * * *  
  
One hour before the arrested men were due to arrive for their shift, the prison was visited by General Ingham and two members of his staff. Although a member of UNIT himself, General Ingham had an exemplary record and was under no suspicion of misconduct. He was fully trusted by the Queen. The General explained to the prison commander that he was about to be significantly understaffed, and why. He also informed the man that he was being relieved of his command, pending a full investigation into abuse of prisoners.  
  
The entire staff of the prison, from the commander down to the lowliest private, were to be suspended while the investigation continued. Each would be informed of the investigation and debriefed individually. Those who had not been directly implicated in Jack's abuse, and were cleared of any wrongdoing, would receive new orders and be reassigned to different bases.  
  
The commander was escorted off the premises by the General's staff, to prevent any tampering with the prison records. A platoon of British soldiers (not UNIT) was standing by to take over guarding the prison from the soldiers about to go off shift.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The prison records were handed over to a team of military lawyers for scrutiny. In addition, army medical staff performed full heath checks on every prisoner. Each one was interviewed and asked if they had been subject to any threats or coercion of any type, or if they had seen any such activities relating to other inmates. It was of course likely that a prisoner would seize the chance to implicate their guards in wrongdoing, therefore only allegations corroborated by other prisoners or a guard, or by medical evidence could be pursued.  
  
* * * * *  
  
When he had been told that Oduya and Stamford had been apprehended, Jack had felt a strange mix of elation and trepidation. Elation that those who had facilitated his abuse at UNIT's hands were no longer a threat, and would get their just deserts, but trepidation at the thought of having to give evidence at their trial. The idea of standing up in court and describing what happened to him, on their orders, filled him with horror. But he pushed the trepidation down. It would be months, if not years, before the case came to trial. There was no point dwelling on it yet.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
Now that the danger of being targeted by UNIT was gone, it was possible for Jack to move out of the Hub. With their current arrangement for supplying his heroin at a gradually declining dose, no one was worried that he would abscond.  
  
Jack was excited at the prospect, as he had had more than enough of being confined to the Hub. But he was also nervous. The Hub was safe, and gave him a sense of security that he hadn't had in many years. It was ironic that he had done his utmost to avoid going back there.  
  
But the excitement won out, and Jack seized upon the opportunity to become more independent and to regain freedom of movement. He would be able to do things that everyone else took for granted; walk in a park, go shopping, have a social life. He and Tosh could go to restaurants on proper dates.  
  
He was also keen to be out of the Hub before the new staff arrived. The three new recruits were due to start work on the first Monday of the month. Jack planned on minimising contact with them.  
  
The first place that Jack went was an estate agent. He came back with a large pile of details for properties for rent. He sat down in the lunch area of the Hub with a cup of coffee and started to look through them. He was dividing them up into a maybe pile and a reject pile.  
  
Ianto came to join him at one point, and started looking through the pile with him. “So, exactly what are you aiming for?” he asked Jack. “A central location, to be near all the action, or a quiet place in the suburbs?”  
  
“Definitely quiet,” Jack replied. “I had enough of being in the nightlife area in Manchester. Now all I want is a peaceful place. I can always head down to the centre if I want to.”  
  
“You should pick a good neighbourhood,” advised Ianto, looking through some of Jack's maybe pile. “A couple of these are in quite dodgy areas.”  
  
“Yeah, you're right. That's just my first pass, weeding out the flats and inner city houses,” Jack explained. “You can do a second pass for me, if you like, picking the good neighbourhoods.”  
  
“Sure,” Ianto smiled. As he sorted them he asked tentatively, “Didn't you consider moving in with Tosh?”  
  
“Tosh and I did talk about that,” Jack explained, “but she only has a small flat, and, more importantly, I really need to be independent for a while. Moving in with her would be only a partial step back into the outside world.”  
  
Ianto nodded in understanding. He couldn't help it, and tried to quash his thoughts, but he felt quite relieved about that.  
  
“Is there any issue about cost?” he asked, waving his pile at Jack.  
  
“No, now that I have free access to all my bank accounts, I have plenty of money,” Jack assured him. “It doesn't matter how expensive the rent is. I could actually buy a house if I wanted, but I don't want to make a long term decision on where to live yet.”  
  
* * * * *  
  
In the aftermath of the raid on their secure facility, and the arrest of many UNIT personnel, the UNIT top brass held a hurried tele-conference (with full security scrambling to prevent any leaks). They knew that when one prison had been raided, others might follow. The head of each prison was ordered to immediately destroy any records relating to abuse of prisoners. Removing the paper trail was the easy part, however. Short of killing them, which would be noticed, they could do nothing about removing prisoners who had been mistreated.  
  
* * * *  
  
With Tosh and Ianto's input, Jack had narrowed down his list of properties to four. It was now time to go visit them.  
  
“Would you like to come with me to see the houses,” Jack asked Tosh. “It would be good to have a second opinion on them.  
  
“I'd love to come. I love looking round houses,” Tosh exclaimed.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
The following day Tosh and Jack had three appointments. The fourth house had already been rented, so they were too late for that one. The first house was a two bedroom, mid terrace, on a quiet street. It was beautifully decorated and had all mod cons. The second one was a three bedroom semi on a busy main road. A lot scruffier than the first. The third was a three bedroom detached house, with a small garden and garage. It was on a quiet leafy street and had its own driveway. It was perfect. Not as well maintained as the terraced house, but that one had no off street parking, and Jack intended to buy a fast car. He would prefer not to leave that on the street at night.  
  
Tosh and Jack smiled at each other.  
  
“It's bigger than you need,” Tosh pointed out, “but I can see exactly why you like it.”  
  
“Yes,” agreed Jack, “I probably won't use all the bedrooms, but it will be nice to have lots of living space.” He took Tosh by the hand. “I hope that you'll come round and visit a lot,” he said with a broad grin.  
  
“You know I will,” Tosh replied, and reached up to kiss him.  
  
The estate agent was waiting for them by the front door, when they had seen enough. “We'll take it, Jack announced happily.”  
  
“Wonderful Sir,” the agent answered, “I'm sure you and your wife will love it here.”  
  
Tosh and Jack burst into laughter at that, leaving the agent totally bemused.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
A week after Jack had chosen his house, he moved in. He barely had any possessions to put in the house, and only realised after he was there how much he would have to buy to make the place habitable. The main bedroom had a king size bed, but he only had the bedding he had been given at Torchwood. That was for a single. So first thing on the shopping list, sheets, and a duvet. Then he needed a massive supermarket shopping spree to stock the kitchen and bathroom. Furnished meant the house came with furniture, cooker etc., but there wasn't a pot or pan to be found. Plus he needed food supplies.  
  
It would be nice to be able to cook again, Jack thought. The Hub wasn't set up for cooking. Heating left over Chinese was about as sophisticated as it got there. The others would probably be surprised to know how much cooking he had done in his long life. He was quite expert at it.  
  
The first thing he did was make a list of things to buy. It was very long, and as he hadn't bought a car yet, he would need help to get anything. Tosh was on duty all day, but Jack knew that Ianto was on his day off. Perhaps he would be willing to help. Pulling out his mobile he phoned Ianto to ask.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jack and Ianto staggered out of Currys. Each was weighed down by a massive box. Jack could barely reach round his box far enough to hold it. Ianto was slightly better off.  
  
“I hope that that box is going to fit in the car,” he grumbled. “Couldn't you have got a smaller TV?”  
  
“Large TV's are the norm these days,” Jack pointed out with a laugh. “And, it's very thin. Just think how big it would have been with a cathode ray tube in it.”  
  
They reached the car. Ianto put his package down and opened the boot. It was a large boot but the box would have to fit through the gap to get in it. Together he and Jack pushed and twisted and tried every angle to get the TV into the boot but it would not go.  
  
“I should have got a hatchback,” Ianto sighed.  
  
“No need,” said Jack, “it can sit on the back seat. That smaller box can go in the boot.”  
  
By pushing the passenger seat as far forward as it would go, they managed to get the giant box into the car. There was then very little room for Jack, but he managed to squeeze in beside it in the back.  
  
“OK?” asked Ianto.  
  
“I'll manage,” replied Jack as he tried to close the door. “Can you push this shut?”  
  
Ianto pushed the door, and squashed Jack but finally managed to close it. “OK, let's go!” Ianto shouted in triumph.  
  
They made it back to Jack's house in fifteen minutes. Ianto had seen the estate agent details but had never seen the actual house.  
  
“It's a great street,” he said, eyeing up the quality of the neighbourhood.  
  
“Would you like a tour?” asked Jack. “After all you did help me pick it.”  
  
“Sure,” agreed Ianto. “I'd love to.”  
  
Ianto admired the house as Jack showed him round, but his thoughts kept drifting to the past, when they used to spend time together being domestic. He hadn't appreciated it as much as he should have at the time. Jack was clearly revelling in his chance to live a normal life, and had embraced domesticity fully. But of course that would largely be shared with Tosh and not Ianto.  
  
“Fancy going car shopping?” Jack asked, when they had finished the tour. “I think you're more into cars than Tosh is.”  
  
“What are you looking for?” Ianto asked.  
  
“Something silver and fast,” Jack declared exuberantly.  
  
“How could I say no?” Ianto grinned, rolling his eyes. “You'd better get one with a big boot.”  
  
“Fast cars don't have big boots!” Jack protested with a laugh.


	34. Chapter 34

The detailed report on the findings from the UNIT prison, where Jack Harkness had been held, was rushed through to the Palace within a week of the raid on the prison. The Queen and her legal advisor, Sir Richard Featherstone, read through it together in the Queen's office. They were both shocked by the findings.  
  
“This is appalling,” the Queen stated, with horror in her voice. “There are a dozen people in this prison who have never had a trial, several more who were given a sham trial and half of the prisoners have been physically abused. And that is just those whose stories have so far been corroborated.”  
  
“Indeed, Ma'am,” agreed Sir Richard. “This does seem to be an endemic problem at this facility. And it is unlikely that it is confined to this particular prison. UNIT have six other secure facilities in Britain.”  
  
The Queen was incensed. “I will not have any organisation running roughshod over the rights of British citizens, or indeed any person, in this way.”  
  
“What do you want to do about it Ma'am?” asked Sir Richard.  
  
The Queen thought for several moments. “First, we need to check if this is indeed standard practice for UNIT, or if this prison is an isolated case. If it turns out to be a consistent practice, then UNIT will no longer be welcome in the United Kingdom, nor will I allow British soldiers to enlist with them. And, if I have my way, neither will any Commonwealth country.”  
  
* * * * *  
  
Having got out of the Hub, Jack was determined to stay out of it as much as possible. Though he had fully reconciled with the Torchwood team, and felt no animosity towards any of them for the events of the past, he had no wish to be part of Torchwood's activities any more. He wanted a job, like any normal person. And that meant a normal job. No risking his, or anyone else's, life or limb.  
  
After a frenetic few days of shopping, Jack decided to start his search for a job. He went down to the newsagent and picked up all the local and national papers. He then headed back home to start working his way through the job ads. He had no idea in mind what he wanted to do, he was hoping for inspiration from the papers.  
  
After several hours he had a shortlist. They were all relatively low level jobs. Those at higher levels always required evidence of qualifications and experience. He was highly qualified, and probably more experienced than anyone else, but he had no evidence for any of it. At least, none that he could use. With Torchwood resources he would be able to fake such evidence, but he didn't want to go down that route. At least not yet. For the moment he wanted a simple life, a simple job would be perfect.  
  
His list included taxi driver, labourer, shop assistant, waiter, trainee chef and barman. On reflection he concluded that his style of driving was not quite right for a taxi driver, so crossed that one off. Thinking about the remaining ones, he came to the conclusion that he'd like to be a chef. He had also eaten at The Lobster Pot in the past and knew it was good quality food. It would be a good place to work. And with 150 years of cooking experience he should be able to make a good impression. Hopefully they would hire him.  
  
Jack phoned the restaurant and made an appointment for an interview. It was for the following day. He'd leave the other applications until he'd seen how that went. He found that he was quite excited.  
  
* * * *  
  
Jack turned up ten minutes before his interview time, and was asked to wait in the restaurant until the manager could see him. The restaurant was not open for customers, as it was mid-morning. After only five minutes Jack was asked through into the manager's office.  
  
“Hello Mr Harkness, I'm Mr Lloyd, the manager.”  
  
Jack shook the offered hand.  
  
“I must say you're older than I expected,” commented Mr Lloyd. “We usually get younger people for the entry level, commis chef position.”  
  
“I am a late starter,” agreed Jack, “but that means that I have had a lot more experience than the people you would normally employ. I was made redundant so I'm starting a new career, and becoming a chef is something I'm really keen to do.”  
  
“Do you know what the position includes?” the manager asked, wanting to check that Jack was not mistaking it for a more senior position.  
  
“Oh yes,” Jack smiled. He had done his research the previous evening. “Commis chef is the lowest rank of chef in the kitchen,” he quoted. “It includes food preparation and basic cooking, plus maintaining hygiene standards, which I assume includes lots of cleaning, and dealing with deliveries and stock. I'm quite prepared to heft boxes around, and do anything else that's required.”  
  
The manager was impressed. Many of the youngsters they got applying assumed that all they would do was cook. “Do you have any formal qualifications?” he asked.  
  
Disappointment flooded through Jack. “No,” he admitted. “The advert didn't say any were required.”  
  
“It's not required, but many people we get applying have something, like an NVQ or BTEC.”  
  
Jack shook his head, “sorry, no.”  
  
“Never mind,” the manager continued. “Tell me what you were doing before.”  
  
After another half hour the interview ended. Jack had run through his carefully prepared previous employment story, which would be backed up by Owen with a reference. It was as close to the truth as it could be, without getting into official secrets territory. Other than the lack of a qualification, Jack felt that the interview had gone well. At least with a lowly chef job there would be no security checks, so his conviction, and subsequent pardon, for treason and murder would not show up. He could not imagine any employer who found out about that offering him a job.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Now that he had left the Hub, Jack continued his sessions with Charlotte at his house. Tosh would visit at the same time in case Jack needed her. They had reduced the number of sessions to twice a week and Charlotte was willing to work around any job that Jack was offered. She had decided to relocate back to London and commute to Cardiff for the sessions.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
It was a week before Jack heard back from the restaurant, by which time he had made appointments to be interviewed as a barman and as a building worker.  
  
Mr Lloyd offered Jack the job. He was ecstatic, and phoned Tosh immediately to tell her. They decided to go out for a celebratory drink.  
  
“I've never been to The Lobster Pot, what is it like?” Tosh asked.  
  
“It's quite posh,” Jack explained. “It specialises in seafood dishes. I've only been once, and what I had was great. I always intended to go back, but I never got the chance.” It hadn't been long after he went there that Saxon had been elected Prime Minister, and everything went to hell.  
  
“We should go there,” Tosh suggested.  
  
“Not for a while though,” Jack replied. “As a new employee, I don't want to turn up as a customer.”  
  
“OK,” laughed Tosh, “I can see that that would be uncomfortable.”  
  
“I can try out what I learn there on you at home, though,” suggested Jack.  
  
“That would be wonderful,” Tosh smiled.  
  
“How are you going to manage with the heroin?” Tosh asked seriously. “Will you be able to get enough time every three days to take it?”  
  
Every third evening Jack was due to take his heroin. Although it was no longer strictly necessary for him to be monitored by a doctor, Jack's paranoia would not let him be alone in the house while he was stoned. And his fear was not really paranoia, but based in reality. He needed someone he trusted implicitly to be there. As the team's doctors, Owen and Joanne had volunteered to alternate in supervising him overnight on those nights. If they were unavailable Tosh, Gwen or Ianto would take over. And any job that Jack took would have to fit in round his drug schedule.  
  
“As long as the restaurant don't ask me to do a double shift, just at the wrong time, I should be fine. And if they do ask, I would just have to say no. So I think it will be OK.”  
  
* * * *  
  
“Guess what?” Tosh announced at the Hub the next day.  
  
Gwen and Ianto looked up from their computers. “What?” Gwen asked.  
  
“Jack got a job.”  
  
Ianto grinned. “That's great. What is it?”  
  
“A chef at The Lobster Pot.”  
  
Gwen squealed. “Really! That's where Rhys took me when he proposed. It's really swish.”  
  
“It's quite a change from Torchwood,” Ianto commented. “I suppose that's the point.”  
  
They broke off as the rift alarm sounded. Gwen got up. “Do you want to take this one with me Ianto? And I'll fetch one of the new guys. It'll be good training.”  
  
“I'll check out the readings while you're on the way,” Tosh volunteered. “I'll contact you on the comms.”  
  
As Gwen and Ianto headed out, Gwen called. “We'll have to go to Jack's restaurant when he's been there a while.”  
  
“Of course,” smiled Tosh. “I'm sure he'd be happy if we did.”


	35. Chapter 35

While the pursuit of Oduya and Stamford, and subsequent investigation into UNIT, was ongoing the Queen had not forgotten her other assurances to Owen. She fully intended to change the law to allow extreme duress to be a defence against treason, murder and lesser crimes. She had been working behind the scenes in Parliament, garnering support for her proposed new law. As she had anticipated, the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and most MPs, irrespective of party, had no major objections and were therefore willing to support her proposed legislation. None had any idea why she was pushing it forward.   
  
  
A codicil to the law applying to crimes committed under duress was quietly approved, largely unnoticed by the public. The codicil stated that if, in the opinion of the Monarch, the duress the perpetrator was under was of a unique and cruel nature, which no person could reasonably be expected to resist, then the perpetrator is not guilty of any crime committed, including crimes such as murder. The codicil was entered into law retrospectively, so that any previously occurring case would be covered.  
  
This naturally, as intended, brought Jack's case into review. It did not take long for a closed session of judges, headed by the Monarch, to review the evidence and conclude that the duress that Jack was under was uniquely severe, and that by building the EMP device Jack had done more to resist than could be expected of anyone. He was therefore found not guilty of all the crimes of which he had been previous convicted. Unlike a pardon, which had left Jack guilty, but forgiven, this new verdict exonerated him completely.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The paperwork regarding the new verdict was delivered by courier to the Torchwood run tourist office. Ianto was on duty at the time. The letter was addressed to Jack Harkness, and had an impressively ornate seal. It was obviously an important document.  
  
Ianto rushed down into the Hub to show Owen. “Owen, look at this!” he exclaimed. “It's from the Palace. We're not busy, can I take it round to Jack?”   
  
Owen looked at the envelope. He remembered what the Queen had said all those months ago at their meeting and smiled. He really hoped that his suspicion was right. “Yes, take it round now. Do you know if Jack's working?”  
  
“I don't think he works on Mondays,” Ianto answered, “He's probably at home. I'll give him a call to check but I won't tell him why I'm going round. Do you think it's good news? Maybe Oduya and Stamford's trial is about to start.”  
  
  
“I don't think Jack would get this type of package for that,” Owen opined, “but it could be good news.” He watched with amusement as Ianto practically bounced out of the door.   
  
* * * * *   
  
  
Having ascertained that Jack was home, Ianto drove round with the letter. When he knocked on the door Tosh answered it.  
  
“Hi, Ianto,” she said brightly. “Jack said you were coming round. What's up?”  
  
Ianto grinned excitedly. “Jack's got a very exciting looking letter from the Palace. I thought he should get it straight away.” He showed her the letter.   
  
Tosh looked at it with interest then yelled up the stairs, “Jack, Ianto's got some post for you.”  
  
A minute later Jack thundered down the stairs. Ianto handed him the letter. He looked at it with surprise. “What would the Palace be doing writing to me?” he asked. Tosh and Ianto just shrugged.   
  
“Open it and see,” prompted Tosh, when Jack just stood there unmoving.   
  
Hesitating slightly, Jack opened the letter and read it. He couldn't actually believe what he was reading to start with, but then handed it to Tosh.   
  
As Jack dropped down heavily on the sofa in a state of shock, Tosh read the letter quickly, an enormous grin developing on her face as she read.   
  
Ianto was on tenterhooks the entire time. “Well,” he demanded. “What does it say?”  
  
“It's a document from the Queen exonerating me of all charges relating to the Valiant,” Jack murmured softly.  
  
Ianto was confused. “But you've already been pardoned,” he pointed out.   
  
“Not pardoned,” Tosh explained with glee, “exonerated. That means found not guilty. A pardon implies guilt. This does not.” She threw herself at Jack, kissing him passionately. “This is wonderful!”  
  
Suddenly understanding, Ianto let out a whoop. “Finally, British justice comes good! Congratulations Jack.”  
  
Jack smiled broadly. “I never dreamed this would happen. Did either of you know this was a possibility?”  
  
“No,” Ianto declared, “but Owen was looking very hopeful when he saw the letter, I've an idea that he knew. In fact I'd better get back and tell him. I'm meant to be at work anyway.”  
  
* * * * *   
  
  
When Ianto got back to the Hub, he rushed to tell Owen the good news. Gwen was with him.   
  
“You knew, didn't you?” Ianto accused.  
  
Owen looked sheepish. “I knew the Queen was going to try for this, but she didn't want to get Jack's hopes up so we didn't tell him. She had to get the law changed to do it; it wasn't simple.”  
  
“Wow,” Gwen interjected. “the Queen did that for Jack, that's amazing!”  
  
“She felt very strongly that he had been appallingly treated.”  
  
“We should throw a party for Jack,” Gwen suggested. “We could have it at my place, Rhys wouldn't mind.”   
  
“That's a great idea,” Owen agreed. “Don't invite the new guys though. Jack doesn't know them. And anyway, we'd need some people to man the Hub while we're all at the party,” he added with a grin. “I'll tell Karen to expect an invite.”  
  
“This is so great,” Gwen enthused. “I'd better tell Rhys and then check with Jack what night he's free.” With that she rushed out.   
  
* * * * *   
  
  
With Gwen's promise that the party would only be the long term Torchwood members, including Joanne and Mark, plus Owen's partner Karen and Charlotte, Jack had agreed to the party in his honour. None of Jack's work colleagues would be invited, as it would be impossible to explain what the party was for, without revealing Jack's past to them.   
  
Jack had never met Karen, but Owen had told him that she was aware of the broad facts of his false imprisonment and Torchwood's subsequent fight to get him pardoned. Jack found that he was largely OK with that. He might not have been initially but, after months of therapy with Charlotte, he was less sensitive to a few others knowing about his past. And he knew that Owen had been circumspect and not given her any details.   
  
* * * *   
  
  
The evening of the party dawned. Jack and Tosh were getting ready at his house. Jack had chosen smart casual clothes, but Tosh had gone for a posh frock, which she had bought specially for the occasion.   
  
“You look gorgeous, Tosh,” said Jack admiringly.   
  
Tosh did a twirl. “It's lovely isn't it. It's a good thing that we get paid a lot at Torchwood, though.”   
  
“Do you think I should wear a suit?” asked Jack. “Or is this good enough?”   
  
“You're the guest of honour, Jack, you can wear whatever you like,” Tosh laughed.  
  
* * * *  
  
  
When Jack and Tosh arrived, most of the guests were already there. Gwen bustled around offering and refilling drinks and Rhys had been delegated to hand round finger food. Music played in the background. It was a low key affair. Just what Jack wanted.   
  
Having heard so much about Jack over the many months that Torchwood had been looking for him and trying to get him pardoned, then after he returned to Torchwood, Karen was nervous about meeting him. The man had had such a profound effect on Owen, turning his emotions from hate, to immense respect laced with a massive amount of guilt. She didn't know any details, but she knew that Owen now considered Jack to be a hero that he owed his life to. And it wasn't as simple as that. Owen's reactions over the months indicated something much deeper than even that.   
  
She was pulled out of her reverie by Owen's voice as he did the introductions. “Karen, this is Jack, Jack, Karen.”  
  
The two looked at each other. Both were surprised to see that the other was nervous.   
  
Jack extended his hand and, as she reached out to shake it, Karen took in his appearance. Tall, dark and handsome could have been coined just for him. However he didn't have the demeanor of a man who knew that he was good looking. He was slightly tentative, and clearly apprehensive meeting her.   
  
Jack was nervous. He knew that Karen knew some things about his past. Living with Owen, she could hardly have missed all the drama. Did she believe him to be a murderer, did she pity him? He looked for signs of that in her face, but found none. Relaxing slightly, he smiled. “Pleased to meet you, Karen. Owen is a lucky guy.”  
  
“Oh no,” Karen demurred. “I'm the lucky one.”  
  
“Tell me how you and Owen met,” Jack asked. “He's never said.”  
  
With the ice broken, Jack and Karen chatted happily. Ianto and Tosh looked on from across the room. “There was a time when Jack would have been flirting with her non-stop,” mused Ianto, “and he would have wanted to be the centre of attention wherever he went.”  
  
“He doesn't do that anymore,” Tosh pointed out. “He'd much rather stay in the background now. And he barely flirts.”  
  
Ianto sipped from his drink as he watched Jack. “He is different now, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. And have you noticed how well he's looking? The food at that restaurant must be great; he's been there for six months and he's practically back to his proper weight.”  
  
“Let's hope he doesn't go too far,” Tosh giggled. “Or he'll need to go on a diet.”  
  
* * * *   
  
  
There was a knock on the door an hour into the party. “I thought that everyone was already here,” Jack remarked to Gwen.  
  
“All but one,” Gwen replied. “Don't worry you'll be pleased,” she reassured him, at Jack's worried look.   
  
Gwen opened the door to let the final guest in.   
  
“Harriet!” exclaimed Jack, while enveloping her in a hug. “I didn't realise you were coming.”   
  
“I wouldn't have missed it,” Harriet laughed, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. “I'm so happy for you Jack.”  
  
Gwen looked on with approval. “I wanted it to be a surprise,” she explained.   
  
Karen had seen the new arrival and nudged Owen hard. “Owen, look! Isn't that Harriet Jones, the ex-PM? What is she doing here?”  
  
Owen hadn't noticed Harriet arrive, but he swung round and beamed. “Yes. She's a good friend of Jack's, and helped us get him pardoned. I'm glad Gwen thought to invite her.”  
  
* * * * *   
  
  
A couple of hours later everyone was tipsy, even Charlotte, who generally didn't drink. Jack and Ianto were sitting together chatting.   
  
“You know, we should start up a pub night,” Ianto suggested. “A boy's night out. Now that you're not living at the Hub we barely see you.”  
  
“Won't the girls be put out if we do that?” queried Jack.   
  
  
“They already have a girl's night out,” Ianto pointed out, “so they could hardly object.”  
  
“OK,” Jack agreed. “How about we aim for every Thursday night. I don't work Thursdays. I'd have to miss it if it hits my heroin day though.”   
  
“Given Torchwood's unpredictable schedule, any of us could be unavailable at a moments notice,” Ianto commented wryly. “I'll run it by Owen and Mark and see if they are up for it.”  
  
They were interrupted in their planning by the ting of a teaspoon on a glass. It was Gwen, trying to get everyone's attention. She had just finished handing out glasses of champagne to everyone.   
  
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she began formally. “As you know this party is in honour of Jack's exoneration of all the crimes that he was accused of. As Harriet is much more used to public speaking than I am, she has agreed to say a few words.”  
  
As Harriet stood up, Jack blushed with embarrassment. He really hoped that she would make it short.   
  
She did, but she didn't spare his blushes, declaring him a hero for saving the Torchwood team and all of humanity, and unjustly imprisoned for crimes he was not guilty of. She thanked the Queen for bringing justice to the case and then asked everyone to raise their glasses in a toast to Jack and the Queen.   
  
As everyone rose and made the toast Jack's embarrassment reached a peak, though he was also pleased. He knew that he needed to respond, at least briefly. He rose to his feet. “Thank you everyone, I know that you have all worked hard on my behalf and that this verdict is largely down to you. I appreciate everything you did. And I'm looking forward to living a normal life now, thanks to you.”   
  
As he sat down, everyone clapped, then Gwen turned the music back up and started refilling everyone's glasses. The formal atmosphere dissipated and became somewhat raucous. Eventually Karen and Owen started a trend by dancing, despite the small space available, followed quickly by Gwen and Rhys. Jack found himself dancing with Charlotte, then Harriet and finally Tosh.   
  
Ianto watched the dancing with amusement, though he did not join in. Joanne and Mark were doing a good impression of a couple. He wondered if there was more to that than just a dance at this party. He was joined on his sofa by Charlotte, and then Harriet, as they finished dancing.   
  
“Jack looks happy,” Harriet observed.  
  
“He does, doesn't he,” agreed Charlotte. “Life outside Torchwood is really suiting him, and being exonerated is the icing on the cake. There is still Oduya and Stamford's trial to get through, but after that he should be able to truly start afresh.”  
  
The party continued into the early hours of the morning, then people began to drift away, congratulating Jack again on their way out to their taxis. Eventually Jack and Tosh were the only guests left. They thanked Gwen and Rhys and headed back to Jack's house, both in a pleasantly inebriated state. “That was a good night,” Tosh declared.   
  
“The best,” Jack confirmed happily.


	36. Chapter 36

  
Life continued on peacefully for Jack in the months following the party. He was happy. He and Tosh practically lived together, although Tosh had kept her flat. The boy's night out was firmly established, but, due to the vagaries of Torchwood, it was a small affair. Typically only two or three people managed to make it, including Jack. Jack found that he preferred the nights when he and Ianto ended up out at the pub alone, to those when Mark or Owen also joined them. He and Ianto had worked through their issues and had reached a level of friendship and trust once more. Their relationship remained purely platonic, however.  
  
Jack continued his sessions with Charlotte, though only once per week. The tranquility, and lack of responsibility, in his life was helping immensely with his PTSD. He had even managed to cut the heroin down to three quarters of the original dose. Tosh now stayed with him when he took it, rather than Owen or Joanne.   
  
Jack continued to work at the restaurant. He had impressed the manager with his willingness to work hard, and his competence in cooking; 150 years of experience did show. He had rotated round all the different areas of the kitchen. What some might have considered a high pressure job, at busy times, Jack considered quite relaxing. It wasn't as if being late preparing a dish, or messing it up, was going to cost anyone their life, or destroy the universe. He was hoping to move up to a more senior level in the kitchen soon. He really fancied being the head chef, but that would take a while.   
  
* * * * *   
  
Ten months after Oduya and Stamford had been arrested, a legal representative from the Court due to try them arranged a meeting with Owen. They wanted to discuss who from Torchwood would be required to give evidence, and when. At Owen's request, the meeting was arranged without Jack's knowledge. He wanted to avoid discussing this with Jack until he knew for certain what Jack would have to do. Owen took Charlotte with him.   
  
They arrived at the solicitors' offices that were being used for the meeting and asked for George Granby. After the usual introductions and formalities they got down to business.   
  
“You may wonder why I have brought Doctor Nash with me today,” Owen started. “She is Jack Harkness's therapist. As I'm sure you know he is suffering from a serious case of PTSD. He's been responding well to counselling, amazingly well over the last few months, but just the idea of standing up in court and having to describe what was done to him in the UNIT prison could undo a lot of his progress.”  
  
“He is the prime witness against Oduya and Stamford,” Granby pointed out. “He will also be the prime witness against the guards from the prison, but that will be done in a separate trial. Oduya and Stamford are up on a host of charges; treason, torture and abuse of prisoners, suppressing evidence, kidnap and contracting a killing. There are several other prisoners due to give evidence of torture and abuse, but Harkness's case is by far the most extensive. Without his testimony we have a much weaker case, and the treason, kidnap and contract killing charges would be dropped.”  
  
“Don't ever put Jack in the witness box in front of a courtroom full of people,” Charlotte interjected. “He would not be able to talk about what happened in that sort of situation.”  
  
“It won't be a courtroom full of people,” Granby assured them. “This trial will be a closed session. Only the defendants, the judge, jury and two admin staff will be present.”  
  
“You can't put Jack in a room with Oduya and Stamford!” Charlotte exclaimed. “Have you any idea of what they, and their men, did to him!”  
  
Granby sighed. “Of course I know what was allegedly done. And I can understand what you're saying. But Harkness still has to give evidence.”  
  
“Well can't he give his evidence by video?” asked Charlotte.  
  
“You mean like children do in Crown prosecutions?” Granby asked in surprise.  
  
“Yes, that's precisely what I mean.”  
  
Granby thought for a moment. “It would be very unusual in a Court Martial, but let me just check something.” He turned to his laptop and typed for a couple of minutes. “Yes, under special measures, not only children, but also intimidated and vulnerable adults, can do the majority of their testimony via recorded interview, with any follow up questions done by live video link.”   
  
Owen and Charlotte beamed.   
  
“But that is in a civilian court. We would have to persuade the judge to allow it,” continued Granby. “However, if you can provide convincing medical evidence of mental disorder, for example this PTSD that you mentioned, and we argued that he would suffer from significant fear and distress in relation to testifying, it might be allowed.”  
  
“It's the best chance of getting coherent evidence from Jack,” Charlotte opined.  
  
“OK,” agreed Granby. “Submit a report to me to that effect and I'll take that forward to the judge. I'll let you know his decision.”   
  
“Who else will be giving evidence?” Owen asked.   
  
“The secondary witness to the torture and abuse is Peterson. But we'll also be prosecuting them for suppressing evidence, kidnap and attempted contract murder; though Oduya seems to be primarily responsible for those. So we'll need you, Dr Harper, to give evidence about the DVDs that Peterson leaked to you, and the kidnap of Harkness in Cardiff when they found him. Plus we will need Miss Sato and Mr Jones who also witnessed the kidnap. One of the soldiers arrested for abuse has agreed to give evidence about the contract to kill Harkness, in return for a reduced sentence.”  
  
“By the way,” Granby stated, “none of the jury know anything about the the Master's reign of terror over the Earth, although the judge does. It should not be necessary to mention that in any testimony. It's not relevant. The fact that Harkness was tortured before his incarceration by UNIT can be discussed without reference to a time paradox or the exact circumstances.”  
  
“What about Jack's immortality?” asked Charlotte, “do they know about that?”  
  
“At the moment only the judge knows,” Granby explained, “however that is likely to come into the evidence, as I believe it's alleged that Harkness was killed at least once in UNIT custody. So they will have to know. They'll be briefed before the trial starts.”   
  
“You can't just let anyone know about that,” snapped Owen. “If it got out, Jack would be targeted endlessly.”  
  
“That is understood,” Granby assured them. “Her Majesty was adamant that everyone, even the administrators at the trial, be people with the highest possible security clearance. There will be no leaks.”  
  
“Can you be accused of murder, or organising a contract killing, if you know your victim will come back to life?” asked Charlotte.  
  
Granby nodded. “That has been discussed at the highest level. The answer is yes. If you kill someone it's murder, regardless of whether they stay dead.”  
  
“I should think so,” exclaimed Owen, trailing off as he noticed Charlotte staring at him.  
  
Charlotte looked at him strangely for a moment, remembering that Owen himself had murdered Jack, not even knowing he would come back to life. She had managed to put that out of her mind until this moment.  
  
The rest of the discussion concerned logistics and timescale of who would be needed and when.   
  
“Do you think you or I should tell Jack about all this?” Owen asked Charlotte, as they walked back to the car after the meeting.   
  
“I think I'd better,” Charlotte decided, “but not until we hear back from the judge about whether he'll accept video evidence from Jack. I'd hate to mislead him about how he'll give evidence.”  
  
“Right,” Owen agreed. “I'll let you know as soon as I hear.”  
  
It was a crying shame, Owen mused, that Jack's peaceful life was about to be disrupted. He prayed that it wouldn't damage Jack's recovery too much.   
  
* * * *   
  
A week after Owen's meeting with Granby, Jack was promoted to demi-chef de partie. It was still a junior position, but Jack was pleased to be moving up the hierarchy. To celebrate, he invited everyone to join him at the restaurant for dinner. It was the first time that Jack would be a customer at the restaurant since he had started work there. Mr Lloyd promised to make their night extra special.   
  
When Jack and Tosh arrived at the restaurant, Owen, Karen and Ianto were already at the table.   
  
“This is a fantastic place Jack,” Karen remarked. “I hope the food is as good as the ambience.”  
  
“Oh it is,” Jack assured her. “I get to try all of the dishes and they are wonderful. You can't go wrong here.”  
  
Ianto smirked as he saw the manager giving an approving look to Jack. “They should include advertising as part of your job description,” he laughed.   
  
“I haven't done much for that,” Jack answered, “this is the first time I've brought any customers in, or eaten here myself since I started.”  
  
At that moment Gwen and Rhys arrived, along with Joanne. Mark was on duty and not able to come. Once everyone was settled at the table, Jack announced, “Tonight's dinner is on me, so don't hold back. What would everyone like to drink?”  
  
If Jack had just been a demi-chef de partie, living on that salary, the others would not have let him do that. But they knew that he had money to burn. He wasn't working for the money but for the normality and satisfaction it gave him.   
  
“Cheers Jack,” Rhys replied. “I'll have to stick with one beer, and then move on to soft drinks. I'm the designated driver,” he added sorrowfully. Gwen patted him on the arm in mock sympathy.   
  
“Me too,” added Karen, “so I'll have a tonic water.”   
  
The rest of them decided on wine, one bottle of white and one of red to start with. Then they ordered.   
  
The food was, as predicted, excellent. The service was also excellent with the staff doing their best for one of their colleagues. They were given complementary coffee and mints plus digestifs at the end of the meal.   
  
As Jack got up to sort out payment, Ianto leaned back in his seat. “Oh I'm stuffed,” he admitted. “I need a bigger pair of trousers. That was a great meal.”   
  
Tosh laughed. “You shouldn't have had a starter and pudding then! I only ever have one or the other.”  
  
All the others were in a similar state to Ianto.   
  
“I don't have your self control Tosh,” moaned Joanne. “The food was so good. I'll have to make up for it tomorrow.”  
  
Owen had enjoyed the evening, but his enjoyment was tinged with worry. Jack was doing so well and he feared that the upcoming trial would derail his progress. But this evening had been good for all of them. At least Jack had got to enjoy that before any worries about giving evidence became an issue.   
  
At the till, Jack and Mr Lloyd were talking.   
  
Mr Lloyd was gazing at the Torchwood group. “I think your guests had a good time,” he smiled. “Who is the lovely young oriental lady? I couldn't help but notice that you are close.”  
  
Jack grinned. “Yes, that's Toshiko. We've been together for over a year.”  
  
“You're a lucky man.”  
  
“I know it,” agreed Jack.   
  
“I'll see you tomorrow for work then. And you know, if you keep going the way you have been, you'll be chef de partie before you know it.”  
  
“That would be great,” Jack enthused. “I'll do my best.”  
  
“You always do,” replied Mr Lloyd, smiling.


	37. Chapter 37

Three weeks after Owen's initial meeting with George Granby, Jack was summoned to give his video evidence to be used in the trials of Oduya, Stamford and many UNIT guards.   
  
Owen and Jack waited in one of the interview rooms at the Court Martial Centre in Bulford Wiltshire. Jack was very nervous and was pacing around the room. Owen sat watching him with worry. The paperwork that they had brought with them, including a copy of Jack's written statement, lay on the table. A camera was set up in the corner of the room.   
  
Jack had been on edge since Charlotte had told him the trial was about to start. Fortunately, the court had agreed to allow him to give the bulk of his evidence via video taped interview. He would only be required to answer questions about the evidence live at the trial, and even then via a video link. He was only managing to keep as calm as he was since he knew that he would not come face to face with Oduya or Stamford or any of the soldiers involved in the abuse. Owen had briefed him about the clearance level of the people who would be at the trial, so he knew that he would be able to talk freely about his immortality, and could mention the Master, as the person who had previously held him prisoner and tortured him, but should not mention his reign of terror of Earth or the time paradox.  
  
Jack had taken holiday time from the restaurant so that he could give his evidence. The trial itself would be more problematic, as predicting the timescales, and how often Jack would be needed, was a lot less clear cut. Owen had suggested that Jack tell his boss that he had been called for jury duty; Torchwood would provide the documentation. Employers were required to allow that.   
  
Jack jumped as the door opened and three men and a woman came in. Owen recognised George Granby.   
  
Granby nodded to Owen, and moved over to Jack, holding out his hand for Jack to shake. “Mr Harkness, thank you for coming. I'm George Granby and I will be conducting the interview today. Mr Tisley and Miss Lindsay will assist me with any information that I need during the interview, and Mr Jackson is in charge of the taping.”  
  
Each person smiled and nodded as they were introduced.   
  
“Every person in this room is cleared to the highest level, and can be trusted with the most sensitive information,” Granby assured Jack.   
  
“He means that they know about your immortality,” Owen elaborated, “so you can speak freely.”  
  
“Would you move over to the side of the room, Mr Harper,” asked Jackson, “so that you won't be in the shot. Mr Harkness if you sit here, and Mr Granby you here.” Once Jackson had everyone arranged to his satisfaction he moved over to the camera and set up for a test. “Could you state your full name Mr Harkness,” he asked.   
  
Jack did so, and Jackson checked to make sure the picture and sound were working correctly, before giving the go ahead to Granby.   
  
Before Granby signaled for the recording to start, he needed to set out for Jack what he wanted him to do. “OK Mr Harkness, when we are ready I would like you to describe, in chronological order, if you can, any incidents of abuse that you suffered at the UNIT prison. You may refer to your written statement at any time. For each incident could you state exactly what role Colonel Oduya and/or Major Stamford played, and, after that, what role any of the guards played. If guards were involved, I will ask you to identify them from these photos.” Granby spread out photos of twenty guards on the table.   
  
“These taped statements will be used in the trial of Oduya and Stamford, and also in the trial of the guards that will take place at a future date. Since the evidence is so inter-related, the judge has ruled that you need only give the taped evidence once, although you will need to answer questions at each of the trials. Your evidence will be given under oath, and when you are ready we will start the recording and administer the oath. Do you have any questions?”  
  
Jack shook his head. “No, I'm as ready as I'll ever be.”   
  
* * * * *  
  
  
Once all the legal preliminaries were completed, Jack began his testimony.   
  
“At first I was practically ignored. I was kept in the dark and given very little food and water. Not enough really. But they didn't harm me, not directly. I don't know how long it was exactly, it's hard to judge, but it was several weeks.”  
  
“Then one day it changed. Four guards came to my cell and dragged me out. I could barely open my eyes in the light. They took me to an interrogation room where Oduya was waiting. He demanded to know the security codes for Torchwood, along with details of any important items in the secure archive. He also wanted information on The Doctor. Oduya told me that I would be hurt if I didn't comply. They took me back to my cell to think it over. I didn't agree of course, so the next day they started with the physical abuse.”  
  
Jack then described a long serious of violent assaults, ranging from vicious beatings to water boarding, that took place daily over several months. The violence had escalated as they failed to get any information. From the pictures, Jack was able to identify all the guards who participated in the assaults. Stamford was not involved as he had not arrived at the UNIT prison until the physical abuse had ceased.   
  
The evidence was long and detailed. It took two solid days to complete, with only a few breaks for meals and refreshments. Owen and Jack were staying in guest rooms on the base.   
  
Throughout the horrific descriptions, Jack remained relatively calm. “Oduya usually kept at a distance, watching and giving orders, but occasionally he joined in. I think he was getting frustrated,” Jack explained.   
  
“Did you tell them anything?” Granby asked.   
  
“No. Getting beaten up by them was nothing compared to how I had been treated before. They were amateurs compared to the Master. Eventually they gave up and left me alone for a couple of days, and then they changed tactics.” Jack coughed suddenly, his throat dry after talking for hours.   
  
“Can we finish for today?” Owen interjected. “I think we're all tired.” To himself, he admitted that he wanted to put the next lot of evidence off until the next day when Jack was rested.   
  
Granby glanced at the clock, surprised to see that so much time had passed. “Yes, of course.” He turned to Owen and Jack, “We'll reconvene here at 9am tomorrow morning.”  
  
As Owen and Jack started to leave, to return to their rooms, Granby indicated to Owen that he should stay for a moment. Jack glanced at Owen, but then continued on his own.   
  
Granby had hidden it well, but he was angry. “You said that he was vulnerable! In two days I have not seen one shred of evidence of that in his testimony. He's no more nervous than anyone I've seen in court. Anyone who can be that dispassionate about abuse like that doesn't have any grounds for giving video testimony.”  
  
Owen could understand exactly why Granby had reached this conclusion. Only someone who knew Jack, and the intimate details of his recent history, would understand that the standard physical abuse UNIT put him through was relatively insignificant to him. It was the rest of it that broke him.   
  
“Give him a few more days,” he requested. “This part of the evidence was never going to be the problem.”   
  
“Very well,” Granby acquiesced. “But, if he is as calm as this throughout the evidence, I'll have no choice but to go back to the judge and ask him to review the matter. He may decide that he should rescind the permission for using video evidence.”  
  
* * * * * * * *   
  
The next day Jack's nerves were increasing exponentially. They were going to cover his forcible addiction to heroin, and subsequent total capitulation to Oduya and Stamford.  
  
The same team assembled in the meeting room and, once Jackson had everything set up and running, they began.  
  
“Can you tell us what happened when Oduya and his men changed tactics?” Granby asked.  
  
Jack nodded and, reluctantly, began. “He, Oduya, had realised that their tactics weren't going to work, so he brought in another guy; Stamford. If they had just carried on with more violence I could have coped, but they didn't.” He looked down in shame.   
  
“Even with a couple of days to recover since they beat me up, I was in bad shape. They dragged me to Stamford and tied me to a chair. Then they injected me with heroin. I couldn't stop them.”   
  
Granby interrupted. “Who injected you? Was it Stamford himself?”  
  
Jack shook his head. “No, he ordered the guards to do it. He was right there watching though.” He sifted through the pictures and pointed out three guards. “These two held me down and this one injected me. It was heaven,” he admitted. “And they kept it going for days. I've no idea how many doses they gave me, or who gave me the others. But of course, once they had me hooked, they withdrew it and left me to go cold turkey. Eventually Stamford showed up and asked if I would talk. I refused and they did it all again. I OD'd once, or possibly more than once, I'm not sure.”   
  
“Did Stamford ever physically harm you or inject you with heroin?” Granby asked.  
  
“No, he just gave the orders.”  
  
“And how long did this continue?”   
  
“I'm not sure. I was so out of it that it could have been days or weeks. They kept upping the dose, then putting me through withdrawal, and each time it got worse.” By this point Jack was beginning to shake as he spoke. “I could cope with the physical withdrawal, but it was the memories! Stamford didn't even realise what was happening. I don't know why, but the heroin withdrawal made me relive memories. When I got heroin it was bliss, and the memories that had plagued me since the Master were gone, but when I went through withdrawal they came back stronger than they had ever been. It was like I was actually living through past events, with all the physical and emotional feelings that came with them.”  
  
Jack paused to collect himself. “For most people reliving memories wouldn't be much of a problem, if the heroin even had that effect on them. But for me it was devastating.”   
  
“Why is that?” asked Granby.  
  
Jack swallowed. “Think about your worst memory,” he suggested to Granby and the panel. “It may be painful to you, but I would guess that reliving it wouldn't be that traumatic. But I have died hundreds of agonising deaths. I've been beaten to death, impaled, flogged, burned alive, ...” he trailed off. “The Master delighted in killing me slowly, and as painfully as possible. Can you imagine reliving that? Feeling every nuance of pain and agony again.”  
  
Tisley and Lindsay looked green.   
  
Jack vividly remembered the desperation and humiliation he felt when grovelling to Stamford, and pleading for a fix. He had been a completely broken wreck, willing to betray everything, and (almost) everyone for one more hit. His voice shook as he admitted his abject surrender. “Given what withdrawal did to me, there was no way I could hold out against Stamford. Over the next few months I spilled everything I knew in return for heroin. One secret for one hit.”   
  
“How did you get off it in the end then?” asked Granby, with doubt in his voice. “If it was that bad wouldn't you still be addicted?”  
  
Jack grimaced, then drew himself up and faced Granby and his assistants. “I didn't get off it. I am still addicted. And we will need to adjourn today's session early so that I can take it this evening.”  
  
Everyone but Owen was reeling in shock from this revelation.   
  
“Don't judge him,” Owen interjected. “If you had seen Jack in withdrawal, you'd understand. We, that is the senior Torchwood team, have seen it and we couldn't deal even with watching it, never mind living it.”  
  
* * * * * * * * *   
  
  
  
The panel reconvened after lunch. Granby, by this point, was no longer questioning Jack's need to give evidence via video link. They were in the final stretch now, and he wanted to get the last part of the case wrapped up before Jack had to leave. The guard, Peterson, was the principal witness for this part of the case. For some reason, while clearly describing many rape scenarios, Jack himself had not made definitive accusations in that part of his written statement. That would need following up.   
  
“So Jack, we have covered up to the point that you had given UNIT everything they wanted, and were addicted to heroin. What other abuse, subsequent to that, did you experience?”  
  
“None, that's all.”  
  
Granby looked astounded at this, and whispered to Tisley briefly. They consulted a document to verify their facts, then Granby turned his attention back to Jack. “What about the sexual assaults? We have testimony, from one of the guards, that several of the other guards raped you on many occasions. And your own written testimony sets out the assaults in detail.”  
  
Jack froze and visibly started to hyperventilate. If Granby had thought he was heading for a meltdown before, it was nothing compared to his demeanor now. “I wasn't raped,” he declared hoarsely. He was holding the handles of his chair in a death grip.   
  
Owen looked as if he was about to call a halt to the proceedings.   
  
Granby consulted his colleagues again. “We have testimony that on at least twenty seven separate occasions, spanning several months, guards entered your cell and forced you into various sexual acts including fellatio and anal penetration. The numbers of guards varied between four and seven on each occasion, but a total of fifteen guards participated.”  
  
“I … was … not … raped,” Jack stated, enunciating each word deliberately.   
  
“Are you saying that these events did not happen?” Granby asked.   
  
Jack flushed. “They happened,” he forced out, “but they weren't rape.”  
  
Granby gaped. “Then what were they?”  
  
The morning session had almost tipped Jack over the edge, and this was the last straw. “Don't you understand?” he yelled. “I whored myself out for heroin. They didn't rape me, I begged them to fuck me. I didn't care how many of them had me, as long as they gave me heroin!”  
  
At that point Jack fled from the room, ignoring the court officials and Owen as he ran. His one thought was that he needed heroin, and he needed it now.   
  
The panel sat in stunned silence after Jack's precipitous exit.   
  
Lindsay motioned to Owen, “Shouldn't you go after him?” she suggested eventually.   
  
Owen shook his head. “No, he'll have gone to take his heroin and it's best that we leave him to it. Emotional trauma tends to set him off. I just hope he has enough self control to stick to his regular dose. It's taken over a year to get his dose down to three quarters of what UNIT had him on.”  
  
Granby paced around the room. “Well that was a fiasco. What the hell was the point of bringing up rape charges against fifteen men if the victim says that he wasn't raped?”  
  
“I had not realised that Peterson had made those accusations,” Owen admitted. “Or I would have headed this off. We all know that Jack was raped by those guards. They were in a position of power over him, and he had no choice. But he wants to believe that he consented. He was raped many times by the Master, and he is desperate to think that he hasn't been raped again.”  
  
Granby turned to his colleagues. “Well, it's a complete mis-communication, but there is nothing we can do about it now. We will have to drop the rape charges. Still, it is completely against military regulations to have sex with a prisoner, consenting or not, so we'll have to be content with a much lesser charge. Tisley will you complete the paperwork for that?”  
  
He turned to Owen. “I can see now that Jack really does need to give evidence via the video link, rather than in person, so you don't need to worry on that account. And, whoever failed to follow up the discrepancies between Peterson's evidence and Harkness's evidence about the sexual abuse, and to ascertain if Harkness wanted to press charges of rape is for the high jump, I promise you.”  
  
He briefly consulted his notes, and his staff, then announced to the room, “As we won't be proceeding with the sexual assault charges, and Mr Harkness has already confirmed that the events did take place, I think that will be sufficient for his testimony. Any questions that come up can be dealt with via video link at the trial. So Mr Harper and Mr Harkness are free to go.”   
  
As the panel began to pack up, Granby moved over to Owen. “I don't know how long Mr Harkness will be incapacitated, but feel free to stay as long as you need in your rooms. I'll let the base personnel know that you should not be disturbed.”  
  
Gratefully Owen headed off back to the residential block to check on Jack. At least one ordeal was now out of the way. 


	38. Chapter 38

Three months after Jack gave his taped evidence, Oduya and Stamford came to trial. As their crimes were interrelated, and much of the evidence would relate to both, they were to be tried by General Court Martial individually, but with the same Judge advocate and jury. As members of the British Armed Forces, on secondment to UNIT, they were to be tried by UK Armed Forces Law. This was not a trial which could be held in anything but the greatest secrecy. Though the events of the Master's destruction of the Earth would not be part of the trial, the immortality of Jack Harkness could be. No public record would be made. The jury were several of the most senior members of the UK armed forces.   
  
Jack was required to attend both trials. On each occasion he was ensconced in a private room, with a video link to the main trial. After many hours of waiting, when he was called to the stand, TV footage of the courtroom was piped to this room so he was able to see and hear everything that was occurring.   
  
In both cases, the prosecution had saved Jack as the last witness. Peterson's evidence had been given earlier. Many of the soldiers involved in abuse had turned Queen's evidence and had also given their evidence. That evidence, along with Jack's taped testimony, was extremely damning for the defendants. The case against each of them was so strong that Jack was only needed to clarify a few points over the video link.   
  
Stamford and Oduya both received a severe sentence: dishonourable discharge, and life in prison.   
  
* * * * *   
  
Jack had arranged a session with Charlotte for the day after he gave his final evidence. He gave her a run down on how things had gone at the trial.   
  
Charlotte was pleased and impressed at how Jack had come through it. “You did very well,” she opined. “And, thanks to being able to give taped evidence, you've come through the trials without too much trauma. I'm so happy for you.”  
  
“And even better,” he exclaimed. “The judge advocate has said that there will be no need for me to answer any questions in the trial for the lower ranked soldiers. Apparently, they were all falling over themselves to turn Queen's evidence and implicate Oduya, Stamford, and each other. They've all rolled over and admitted all the charges.”  
  
Charlotte smiled. “That's wonderful Jack. Now you can put it all behind you and carry on rebuilding your life.”  
  
“The Queen has said that there will be prosecutions of prisoner abuse cases in other high security UNIT prisons. I'm glad I won't have to be involved with those. It does seem to have been an endemic problem.”  
  
“Did you manage to keep to your scheduled heroin dose?” Charlotte asked. “You have done so well getting down to less than 75% of the original dose. I was worried that the trials would set you back.”   
  
“It was a near thing,” Jack admitted. “When I did the taped evidence, I needed the heroin desperately. It was luck that it was time for my regular dose. And I just shot up with what was there waiting for me, without thinking about what dose it was. Owen had left the right amount ready for me.”  
  
“It is going to take you years to get down to a minimal dose,” Charlotte pointed out. “Do you think you can keep the self control going that long?”   
  
Jack nodded. “I don't think that will be a problem, as long as I live a normal life. And what seems like a long time to most people, isn't to me. I can afford to be patient.”  
  
“Ah, yes. The normal life,” interjected Charlotte. “How is that going?”   
  
“I was promoted to chef de partie. Only two steps below the head chef,” Jack explained proudly. He had progressed very quickly, no doubt due to his long experience with cooking. “Things are going really well. I'm happy in my job, happy with Tosh. I'd rather neither of us had anything to do with Torchwood, but you can't have everything.”  
  
“Would Tosh be willing to leave it?”  
  
“Perhaps,” Jack answered, thoughtfully, “if we had somewhere else to go.”  
  
Charlotte had never seen Jack so calm and happy. It boded well for the future. “Well Jack,” she said, “I think we have covered everything that you needed to cover in these sessions.”  
  
“I think so too,” Jack agreed.  
  
“So, I think that we can discontinue our weekly sessions, but of course if there is anything that comes up that you want to discuss you can always call on me. I could be up here from London within a day if you needed me.”  
  
“Thanks Charlotte, I really appreciate everything you've done for me.” And he truly did. On impulse he moved towards her and hugged her hard.   
  
Charlotte blushed. It wasn't often that she was hugged by such a handsome man.   
  
* * * * * *   
  
Two months later, The Queen personally invited Jack to the Palace. She knew that humanity owed a great debt to Jack for creating the EMP device that allowed the Master to be defeated. She presented him with the Victoria Cross, the highest award for extreme valour in the face of the enemy that the UK could bestow. Usually this would be presented as the first of all honours being given at a major investiture. But the confidential nature of what happened on the Valiant precluded this. Jack was relieved. The last thing he wanted was to be the centre of unwanted attention. Tosh was the only guest at the ceremony.   
  
Afterwards, as Jack and the Queen chatted privately, she informed him, with some embarrassment, that since he had been falsely imprisoned, and his rights had been violated by UNIT, he was also to receive monetary compensation. The money would come out of the budget that the UK contributed to UNIT.   
  
“You know, Jack,” the Queen disclosed, “The position of Head of Torchwood is yours if you say you want it.”  
  
Come back and save people, save the Earth, Jack thought with dismay. Look at where saving people got me. I'm done with that.  
  
“I don't want it,” Jack demurred, not letting on how much horror he felt just at the idea of it.   
  
The Queen held up a hand. “You think that now, but who knows how you will feel in five or ten years. I may not be around then, but I will ensure that procedures are in place so that you could be reinstated at any time, however long that might be.”  
  
Jack nodded, although in his heart he could not conceive of a time when he would wish to lead Torchwood again. 


	39. Chapter 39

4 months later.  
  
As was their usual custom, Jack and Ianto went on a boy's night out once a week. On rare occasions Owen or Mark accompanied them. They tried a different restaurant and pub each week. That night they had had a meal at a cheap restaurant, which had turned out to have surprisingly good food. Both men were in a good mood as they entered the King's Arms pub. Neither had been there before.   
  
While Jack found a booth, Ianto got the beers in. As he brought them over, unseen by Jack, he smiled fondly at him, letting his emotions show more than he should. In the three years since they had found Jack in Manchester, Ianto had never stopped loving Jack. But Jack had Tosh, and had shown no inclination to rekindle anything with him.   
  
Being a bit drunk from the restaurant, Ianto found himself getting maudlin. Probably not helped by the fact that it was the anniversary of their first liaison, so many years ago. He reached out and took Jack's hand. It was something that he had barely done since before the Valiant, at least not unless Jack was lying unconscious or strung out on drugs.   
  
Jack looked up in surprise, and jerked his hand away.   
  
Ianto let go instantly. “I'm sorry,” he stuttered. “I was just remembering the past.”  
  
Jack was mortified. The last thing he had intended was to embarrass Ianto. He had just reacted instinctively to a touch from a male that was less than platonic. After all this time it was a shock to realise he still had reflexes conditioned into him by the Master. Ianto did not deserve that. He had proved himself a good and trustworthy friend. “I'm sorry. You just caught me by surprise.”   
  
“No, I'm sorry,” Ianto answered. “You know that I love you, but I don't know why I did that.”  
  
They were interrupted suddenly by two burly guys who were standing near the booth. One addressed Jack. “Is he giving you problems?” the guy demanded.  
  
“No, no problem,” Jack said quickly, sensing trouble.   
  
The men gave Ianto filthy looks, but backed off.   
  
“I don't think that this is a good place for us,” Jack murmured. “Drink up, we can find another pub.”  
  
They downed their pints quickly and stood up, heading for the door, only to find that the men were waiting outside the exit, and they had friends.   
  
The men zeroed in on Ianto. “We don't like your sort round here,” snarled the man who had challenged them before. As he spoke, his friends pushed Ianto around the side of the pub into an alley. They didn't seem interested in Jack, but he followed of course. He wasn't about to leave Ianto alone with a bunch of thugs.   
  
One of the men pushed Jack back. “It's not you we want, it's your faggot friend. Get out of here, if you know what's good for you.”  
  
Since there were five of them, Jack decided to try diplomacy. “Whatever you think he's done, you're wrong. We were just out for a quiet drink.”  
  
“Look, we saw him hit on you, which makes him a faggot. And faggots get what they deserve if they turn up on our turf. You turned him down, so you can leave.”  
  
“I'm not leaving without Ianto,” Jack protested, knowing full well that his chances of getting help were slim, and would not be in time to stop the men doing whatever they planned to do to Ianto.   
  
Ianto had stayed silent through the argument but, when he saw one of the men pull a knife, he yelled out to Jack in warning. “Jack, get out of here!”   
  
But Jack did not leave. As the man thrust with his knife towards Ianto, Jack stepped between them, grabbing the knife in his hand. It sliced his palm and blood started to flow. With a cry of “No, never again!” Ianto launched himself into the fray. He knocked the man down and away from Jack, who stumbled from the impact and fell.   
  
At that moment the sound of sirens filled the air, moving closer. The men attacking them panicked and ran, leaving Ianto and Jack alone in the alley. As Jack got to his feet, Ianto stumbled away to lean on the wall. Jack saw with horror that the knife was embedded in Ianto's side up to the hilt. He rushed over and stared at Ianto's wound in horror. “Why did you do that,” he cried. “You should have let me deal with it. You know I can't be hurt.”   
  
“Of course you can be hurt,” gasped Ianto, “and I will NOT let you be hurt for me again. I love you Jack.” His eyes fluttered and he hovered on the edge of consciousness.   
  
The sirens that had scared the men off were receding into the distance. Clearly no help was coming from them, so Jack ran out into the street yelling for passersby to call an ambulance. He then ran back to Ianto and did all he could to slow the blood flow. He dared not pull the knife out, since Ianto would bleed out very quickly.   
  
Jack's emotions were in turmoil. His feelings for Ianto were so confused even at the best of times. Deep down he still loved him, but that love had been buried under layers of ice, which had been thawing gradually over the years. But now, it was not so much the fact that Ianto had said he loved him, he already knew that. More than that, Ianto had been willing to give his life to save Jack from harm. And unless the ambulance came quickly he may have done so.   
  
Jack grasped Ianto's hand firmly. “Don't you dare die on me,” he cried. “Not because of a fight with brain dead bigots. You can't have survived the Valiant just to die now!”  
  
As the last remnants of the ice around Ianto's place in his heart finally melted, in the light of Ianto's actions, Jack began to cry. He held Ianto's hand and called desperately, “Don't die Ianto, there's so much we need to work out. Don't leave me.”   
  
* * * *   
  
  
It was eight minutes before the ambulance arrived. The longest eight minutes imaginable for Jack. The paramedics stabilised Ianto, and Jack rode with him to the hospital. He was stopped at the reception as Ianto, now unconscious, was wheeled quickly into resus. It didn't take long for Jack to book Ianto in, and then he was allowed through.   
  
The doctors had slowed the bleeding, but needed to get Ianto into surgery immediately. Jack could do nothing but let them do their job. The medics patched up his hand , and then he was shown to the relatives room to wait for news. He called Owen, who informed the rest of the team and headed straight over to the hospital to wait with Jack. Tosh arrived shortly after Owen and hugged Jack. She couldn't help but have a feeling of deja vu, it was only a few years since she and Joanne had waited for news of Ianto at this very hospital.  
  
It was two hours before the doctor came to let them know how Ianto's operation had gone. “It's good news, I'm pleased to say. The surgeon was able to stop the bleeding and there will be no long term damage. Mr Jones will be kept in for a few days, to make sure that he is well on the way to recovery, but then, assuming that there is someone to look after him, he will be allowed home.”  
  
Jack immediately responded. “Ianto lives alone, but I can stay with him so that won't be a problem.”  
  
The intensity of his declaration surprised Owen and Tosh, but neither let their reaction show. Tosh could not help a sinking feeling in her gut. Would this be the beginning of the end for her relationship with Jack?  
  
* * * * * *   
  
  
Three hours later, Ianto woke up. The first thing he saw was Jack, asleep in a chair next to his bed.   
  
Though he only whispered “Hi” it was enough to wake Jack.   
  
“Hi yourself,” Jack smiled.   
  
“What happened?” Ianto asked.   
  
“What do you remember?” Jack queried, not sure where to start.   
  
“There were five men who had us cornered in an alley. I tried to knock the one with the knife away from you. After that I don't know.”  
  
“He stabbed you,” Jack explained. “I'm really touched that you risked your life to save me from harm, but you must not do that again. You could have died.” Jack took Ianto's hand as he said that. “I couldn't cope with that.”  
  
“And I couldn't cope with you being hurt again,” explained Ianto.   
  
“We're a right pair,” smiled Jack weakly. “We'll just have to make sure neither of us gets into a dangerous situation again.”  
  
* * * *  
  
  
Four days after his operation Ianto was released from hospital and Jack took him home. Despite Ianto's protests that he would be fine alone, Jack had insisted that they follow doctor's orders. So he had brought an overnight bag and moved in to Ianto's flat. He had arranged a few days off from the restaurant.   
  
Owen, Tosh and Gwen had all volunteered to take shifts looking after Ianto, but Jack had insisted that he would do it. He had not noticed how withdrawn and sad Tosh had become since Ianto's injury. In fact he had hardly seen Tosh at all.   
  
On the third day, Jack reached a decision. Ianto's near death had brought home to him how fragile his friends and loved ones were. He no longer wanted to waste the time they could have together by holding Ianto at arms length. Ianto's life was too short. The night of the stabbing Jack had let go of everything that had held him back from renewing his relationship with Ianto. He thought that Ianto wanted that too.   
  
The next time they were sitting next to each other on the sofa, Jack tentatively leaned towards Ianto and kissed him. Ianto, taken completely by surprise, initially pulled away, but then grinned widely and leaned back in to continue the kiss. After a few minutes, in which the level of passion was rising continuously, Ianto began to unbutton Jack's shirt. He broke off the kiss to murmur “I want to make love with you.”  
  
Now it was Jack's turn to pull away. “But you were stabbed a few days ago,” he pointed out. “Wouldn't it hurt you?”  
  
“Not if we're careful,” Ianto assured him, ignoring the little voice in his head which was saying What about Tosh?  
  
“Then let's move this to the bedroom,” Jack suggested, gently pulling Ianto off the sofa.  
  
In the bedroom, Jack eased Ianto into a sitting position on the bed, kissed him ardently again, and started to undo his clothing.  
  
As Jack started to undo his shirt, Ianto froze. He'd been so carried away that he had forgotten his scars. The scars that he had inflicted on himself. How could he tell Jack that he had harmed himself so badly that he had nearly died, nearly thrown away the gift that Jack had given him at such a cost.   
  
Sensing Ianto's sudden change of mood, Jack backed off in confusion and hurt. “I'm sorry. I thought that you wanted ...”  
  
Ianto's exclamation interrupted him. “I did, I do, it's just there's something I need to explain.” He tried to calm his churning emotions. After so long hoping that Jack would eventually forgive him, and they could get back together, his actions that night so long ago could be about to wreck all his hopes. Standing up, he started to unbutton his own shirt.   
  
Jack stayed back as Ianto removed his shirt. He could tell that this was not an invitation to continue their physical encounter.   
  
When his shirt was off, Ianto stood head bowed and unmoving. He didn't say anything.   
  
As expected, Jack could see the bandage from the knife would on Ianto's side, but he had not expected the many scars that ran across Ianto's chest and down his arms. He heart leaped in relief. Ianto hadn't changed his mind, he was just embarrassed about how he looked. He moved forward and gently stroked each one. “It's OK Ianto, you don't need to be ashamed of scars. It doesn't make any difference to how I feel about you.”  
  
Ianto cringed. “It might when you know how I got them,” he whispered with shame.  
  
“How could it?” Jack replied. “Why would you think that? If my body didn't reset each time I die, I would have a thousand scars. Why would I blame anyone for being scarred.”   
  
“Because I did it to myself,” confessed Ianto. “I mutilated myself, and nearly killed myself doing it. If it hadn't been for Tosh and Joanne I would be dead, and listed as a suicide.”  
  
Jack was stunned. What could possibly have led to Ianto doing such a thing. “But, why?” he stuttered, “and when?” It must have happened since the Valiant, as Ianto had not been scarred like that back then.   
  
Ianto sat down heavily on the bed. Jack sat next to him. “It was after we were given the DVDs. We had found out what you had done for us. I started cutting myself after we saw your bargain with the Master. But it was after I saw myself spend that night with you, in the secret room, that I went totally out of control. Seeing that, broke through the retcon, and it all came back to me; the love, the guilt, the despair when I knew the Master was going to retcon me. Because I knew that I would treat you like dirt again, and you didn't deserve it. I was out of my mind with guilt and I wanted to feel some of your pain. I went too far. Unintentionally!” he added quickly, at Jack's horrified look. “I never intended to die. It wasn't a suicide attempt. I would never have deliberately thrown my life away after what you did to protect it.”  
  
One part of Jack was outraged that Ianto would play fast and loose with his life after what he had paid for it; and it was a large part. He swallowed and moved away from the bed, shaking his head. “How could you do that? You knew what it cost me to keep you safe. And you must have known that you were the most important person on the Valiant, to me.”  
  
Ianto moved towards Jack tentatively, hand outstretched. “I knew, and I swear to you that it was an accident. I never tried to kill myself.”  
  
“You risked your life last week as well, for no good reason,” Jack pointed out, ignoring Ianto's hand.   
  
“No good reason!” Ianto gasped. “That man was going to hurt you.”  
  
“And you know that wouldn't have mattered,” Jack argued, forgetting for a moment how touched he had been that Ianto had fought for him.  
  
“Not mattered,” yelled Ianto, incensed. “It mattered to me. I've seen you suffer too often for my sake, to be willing to allow it to happen again.”  
  
In the face of Ianto's declaration, Jack's anger melted away. “I'm sorry,” he mumbled. “You're right. And I am grateful. It's just hard for me to know that you could die at any time. Please don't take any risks.”  
  
Ianto smiled. “I will do my utmost to remain in the land of the living, especially for you,” he assured Jack. And, seeing that the older man was not going to move, he crossed the space between them and enfolded Jack in an embrace. “I said it last week and I'll say it again,” he whispered, “I love you.” With that said, he kissed Jack passionately.   
  
As things became even more heated and they lay together naked on the bed, Ianto noticed a change in Jack's behaviour compared to their previous liaisons. Then, they had been equals in bed. But now Ianto noticed that Jack responded to even the smallest signals that he was sending out. Jack was trying to anticipate what he wanted, and provide it. The subservience was new. As soon as he thought about it, Ianto realised that this must be the behaviour that Jack had learned from all his recent male sexual encounters; from the Master, through the UNIT guards to his clients in Manchester. Not wanting to upset Jack by drawing attention to this, Ianto subtly guided their encounter so that Jack topped.   
  
Two hours later Jack and Ianto lay entwined, both sated, and basking in the afterglow.   
  
“I've really missed you,” Jack admitted.   
  
“Me too,” agreed Ianto. “I'd just about given up hope of ever gaining your forgiveness.”  
  
“You've had that for a long time,” Jack told him. “But forgiving you wasn't enough for me to be willing to trust you with my heart again. That didn't happen until last week.”  
  
“Well I'm very grateful that it did,” Ianto put in, “despite the circumstances.”   
  
They lay in silence for a while, before Jack spoke again. “Ianto, I have a proposition for you.”  



	40. Chapter 40

Tosh was distraught. She could guess what had happened between Jack and Ianto, while Jack stayed at Ianto's flat. The unselfish part of her insisted that she should be pleased that the two of them had fully reconciled after all this time, but she loved Jack with all her heart and could not bear to lose him. Tears fell from her eyes as she berated herself for being pathetic and needy. She determined that she would not show it to either of them; she would not be humiliated. She would be calm and stoic when Jack broke things off with her. She would wish him well.   
  
* * * *   
  
  
There was a familiar knock on the door. It was time. Tosh invited Jack in to her flat, keeping a tight hold on her emotions.  
  
“Hi Tosh,” Jack began.   
  
Tosh looked at him, but couldn't say anything without betraying her emotional state.   
  
Jack sat on the sofa and regarded Tosh carefully. She was clearly struggling to remain calm.   
  
“You know that Ianto and I have got back together?” he queried, sure that she did.   
  
Tosh nodded.  
  
“Well, I have decided that it's time for me to leave Cardiff and start a new life somewhere else. It's time for me to disconnect totally from Torchwood and start afresh.”  
  
Tosh could feel her heart breaking with every word Jack uttered.  
  
“I've asked Ianto if he wants to come with me.”  
  
Tears welled from Tosh's eyes at that, despite the monumental effort she was making not to break down completely.  
  
“And I'd like you to come as well.”  
  
Time stopped and rewound for Tosh, as she attempted to process what Jack had just said. She had expected him to tell her that he wanted to break up with her. “Huh?” was all she could get out.  
  
Jack smiled gently, and repeated what he just said. “I want you to come with me.”  
  
Tosh floundered, “But you just said that Ianto was going with you.”  
  
“Yes, he is.”  
  
“Then how can you ask me that?” Tosh asked in utter confusion.   
  
Jack sighed inwardly. This era was so stuck in its stereotypes. “Where I come from, relationships are much more varied than just a one man/one woman format. There were many different combinations, including two men/one woman relationships. I love you, and I love Ianto. So I want both of you to come with me.”  
  
Tosh could barely believe that she had heard the words. Jack had never before told her that he loved her, in the whole three years of their relationship. But she was still confused. “Are you saying you want a menage a trois?” she asked, in consternation. Could she do that? She didn't love Ianto, not in that way. Could she sleep with Ianto in order to keep Jack? Would Ianto want her?   
  
The thoughts flashed through her mind so quickly that she didn't even give Jack a chance to answer before she declared, “No, I couldn't do that.”   
  
  
Jack looked grief stricken. “Please, Tosh. I don't want to lose you.”  
  
Tosh's tears were falling uncontrollably now. “I can't Jack. I love you, but I don't love Ianto. I can't sleep with someone that I don't love.”   
  
“And you wouldn't have to,” Jack explained. “I don't mean that you and I and Ianto would be together physically. I would be with you, and I would be with Ianto. You would not be with Ianto unless you both wanted it.”  
  
“I don't understand how that would work,” cried Tosh. “First off, where would we all live, and how would we sort out the sleeping arrangements? Who would you be with?”  
  
“Well, that would be for us to decide as a group, but I would suggest that we get a big house, have a bedroom each and go from there.”  
  
Hope and despair were vying for supremacy on Tosh's face. Could she accept sharing Jack? Could she say no, and lose everything? She had always known that Ianto had a prior claim on Jack, and that the time would come when he and Jack would get back together. But Jack was continuing to offer her love, something she had had little enough of in her life. How could she give that up.   
  
“I'll think about it,” she finally whispered.  
  
Jack's smile lit up the room.  
  
* * * *   
  
  
Jack had invited both Tosh and Ianto round to his house. They needed to talk before they could make a decision on moving away with him. He desperately hoped that they would both say yes. He and Tosh had been together for years. She had seen him through some awful times. And Ianto. After Jack had rejected him, he had remained a steadfast friend, expecting nothing in return. It was only after Ianto risked his life to protect him, that Jack had finally allowed the barrier that he had held between them to dissipate. And, when it did, the love had returned. In his own culture, loving two people would not present a problem. Could Tosh and Ianto overcome the mores they had been brought up with and give it a chance?  
  
* * * * *   
  
  
Tosh and Ianto had been shut away in Jack's dining room for over an hour. Jack had started off trying to watch TV to take his mind off them, but had eventually resorted to pacing up and down worrying.   
  
The door eventually opened, and Tosh and Ianto emerged. Jack was gazing at them with trepidation.   
  
Ianto was the one to speak. “OK, we've agreed. We'll give it a try.”  
  
Jack was overjoyed. He ran over and hugged them both. “This is going to be wonderful. You won't regret it.”  
  
* * * * *  
  
Once the initial euphoria of the moment had faded, the trio began to consider practicalities. If they were to move away, where would they go, and what would they do? They would obviously have to leave Torchwood. It was fortunate that, since UNIT was disgraced and subsequently banned from the UK, the Queen had funded a major expansion of Torchwood. Otherwise Owen would have been left seriously understaffed.   
  
Jack of course had a plan. “You know that I was given compensation for wrongful imprisonment, and for the way that UNIT treated me?”  
  
Ianto and Tosh both nodded. They knew that there had been a settlement, but Jack had never told them how much.   
  
“It was for fifty million pounds.”  
  
“How much!” exclaimed Tosh, as Ianto just gaped.   
  
“So you see,” Jack said, “we can do pretty much whatever we want to do, no matter how expensive.”   
  
After considering some wildly ambitious ideas, Tosh jokingly suggested buying an idyllic private island in the Caribbean. Ianto and Jack both laughed. “We'd be bored to death inside a month,” Ianto pointed out. Tosh had to agree.  
  
“You know, I have been really happy working in the restaurant,” Jack mused “I would like to carry on being a chef. What would you two think about opening our own place? I'm sure that, between the three of us, we could run a restaurant.”  
  
“It would certainly be different,” Ianto noted, “very mundane compared to working for Torchwood though.”  
  
“Mundane is just what I'm looking for,” Jack pointed out. “Though I would understand if it didn't suit you and Tosh.”  
  
“I didn't say that,” Ianto added. “I think you're right. You need a peaceful, safe, life, and that means Tosh and I also need a peaceful, safe, life.”  
  
“That's OK by me,” Tosh put in brightly.   
  
Jack looked at each of them in turn. “So, would you both be willing for the three of us to open a restaurant together?”  
  
“Yes, why not?” laughed Tosh.   
  
“Sure,” agreed Ianto, “but I get to be the manager.”  
  
“No problem,” Jack laughed, “I'll be the head chef.”   
  
“I love to cook too,” Tosh interjected, “I can be deputy head chef. But where are we going to open it? We should get away from Cardiff.”  
  
They got out a map of the UK, and looked over it, hoping for inspiration. In his youth, Ianto had spent many holidays in different parts of Wales, and eventually he zeroed in on Harlech, on the edge of Snowdonia.  
  
“This place is great, the area around it is quiet, but, because of the castle, Harlech itself gets tourists from all over the world. They all need to eat, and there weren't that many good restaurants around there.”  
  
“We'd need to go there of course, check out the local restaurants, and see if there is anywhere we'd like to live. But it sounds like a contender,” Jack exclaimed. “When shall we go?”  
  
Ianto and Tosh both looked at Jack with happiness, exchanging a brief glance and smile with each other. It was wonderful to see him so enthusiastic about life. It really wasn't long since he had barely been able to function. They all remembered those days with horror.   
  
* * * * *  
  
  
With their decision made, Ianto and Tosh approached Owen. It was time to give in their notice.   
  
Predictably, Owen wasn't pleased. “What the hell do you mean you're both resigning!”  
  
Ianto tried to calm him down. “Jack needs to get away from Torchwood, and Cardiff. We are going with him.”  
  
“Ianto, I can understand Tosh going with Jack, but why are you resigning?” Owen sputtered.  
  
Ianto blushed, as did Tosh. “Umm, I got back together with Jack a few days ago.”  
  
Owen's mind whirled. The implications for Tosh hit him. He turned to her. “But, then, why are you going with him?” he demanded. “I would have thought you'd be ready to kill him, not move away with him.”  
  
Tosh blushed an even deeper shade of red. “Jack comes from a society where polyamory is considered normal,” she reminded him.  
  
Owen was stunned. This was Tosh; a less likely person to get mixed up in a threesome he couldn't imagine. He slumped into a chair. “I don't believe it,” he murmured to himself.   
  
Tosh laid a hand on his shoulder. “I know it seems weird, but the three of us have talked about it, and we think that it can work. We at least want to give it a try.”  
  
“Where will you go?” queried Owen.  
  
“We've got plans to open a restaurant. Jack is a trained chef, and I am a pretty good cook. Ianto will be the manager.”  
  
“And make the coffee,” Ianto added with a laugh.  
  
They both grinned.   
  
Seeing how happy they looked, Owen dropped his argument. “Well, if it's what you want, then I wish you both the best of luck. Fortunately, we have a few people who have just about finished their training, and so we won't end up short staffed. Peterson starts next week. There's more coming through the pipeline as well, now that the Queen has decided to expand Torchwood significantly. Can you work two month's notice? That'll give me chance to get your replacements up to speed?”  
  
Neither Tosh, nor Ianto, wanted to leave Owen in the lurch, so they readily agreed. It would take them some time to find somewhere to live, and premises for their restaurant, anyway.   
  
* * * * *   
  
  
Since Jack and Tosh had never seen Harlech, the three of them went on a two day trip, as soon as Tosh and Ianto could get the same shifts off. It was a four hour drive from Cardiff. They had booked into a B&B right in the middle of Harlech, near the castle. The castle dominated the small town. It loomed over the houses at sea level.   
  
They parked the car in the lower car park and walked up to the B&B, as it had no parking of its own. It was a very steep walk. Fortunately they only had a very small overnight bag each. They had the option of going up the castle steps, or round by the road to get to the top. Since they all wanted to tour round the castle, they took the steps.   
  
“This is fantastic,” cried Tosh, when they reached the top. They had climbed the battlements, and now had a view stretching for miles over the countryside and sea. “I never realised the castle would be so intact, most of the ones I've seen have been in ruins.”   
  
Jack gazed out over the landscape. “It's beautiful. I don't think I'd have any problem living around here.”  
  
Ianto smiled, pleased that his suggestion was meeting with approval. “Why don't we look around the town now. It should only take half an hour,” he laughed.  
  
He was right. Within half an hour they had walked around all of central Harlech. There were a few small restaurants, a few shops, and a lot of B&Bs. They found theirs with no difficulty, and checked in. They had booked two rooms, a double for Jack and Tosh, and a single for Ianto. No need to scandalise the landlady with any different arrangement.   
  
Jack, with his usual charm, chatted to the landlady. He found all sorts of useful information about how busy the town was in the tourist season, if the local restaurants were usually full, and if that varied drastically between the on and off seasons.  
  
Next they decided to go back to the estate agents that they had passed in the high street. For Harlech to work for them, they would need to be able to find premises for their restaurant, and a house.   
  
The estate agent was not busy, and was happy to discuss all their requirements with them. He did warn them that premises for restaurants did not become available very often, close to Harlech. But, if they were willing to consider properties within a 10 mile radius, there would be a lot more options. The type of house they were after shouldn't be a problem. They left armed with a large pile of paperwork.  
  
After a quick trip back to the B&B to freshen up, they headed out to dinner. As they sat at their table, Tosh suddenly started giggling.   
  
Jack and Ianto looked at each other, puzzled, since there had been no obvious reason for her to crack up.   
  
“I'm sorry,” Tosh choked out. “It's just so surreal. I'm here with my boyfriend, and my boyfriend's boyfriend, looking for a house for us all to shack up in when we quit our jobs. If somebody had asked me years ago where I saw my life going, there would have been no way on Earth that I'd have come up with this!”  
  
Ianto looked at her for a moment in disbelief. “You think that's surreal. What about the fact that we work for an organisation that fights aliens, and has a secret underground base, with resident pterodactyl? Or the fact that your boyfriend is a 150 year old, immortal, time traveller from a distant planet in the 51st century!”  
  
Tosh gazed at him in surprise. “You know, I forgot about all that,” she admitted.   
  
Jack snorted, and started to laugh with her. It was good to know that Tosh did not think of him as being unusual, apart from the multiple partnerships of course.   
  
Seeing his friend, and his lover, degenerating into hysterical giggles, Ianto could no longer keep a straight face. And then they were all laughing. They only managed to stop when the waiter hurried over with menus, in an attempt to quiet them down. Other customers in the restaurant were staring.   
  
The atmosphere at dinner remained merry, but they were more restrained after that. Jack was pleased to see how well Ianto and Tosh were getting on. He had feared that they would be unable to overcome the jealousy that their era would normally engender for a love rival. He had not been privy to what they had discussed together, when he had first broached a dual pairing, but whatever accommodation they had come to, it seemed to be working.   
  
  
By the time they were ready to walk back to the B&B, they had all decided that they wanted a new life in the area, and they would start seriously trying to organise it.  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
Six months after their first visit to Harlech, Jack, Tosh and Ianto opened an oriental restaurant. They called it Boeshane, after Jack's home. Tosh was in charge of the Japanese dishes, Jack the ones that he had developed himself by using Boeshane recipes; matching ingredients as best he could on Earth. It was a unique restaurant, and they were passing off the Bo inspired dishes as Burmese. Ianto's sister and her family attended their opening night, to support Ianto in his new business venture. They were blissfully ignorant of the exact nature of his arrangement with his business partners. Ianto planned to wait until his relationship with Jack, and thereby Tosh, was well established before dropping that bombshell.   
  
The three of them lived in a huge house, a few miles outside Harlech. The extensive space allowed for as much privacy as each person, or couple, might need and allowed them to define the parameters of their dual pairing harmoniously.   
  
Jack continued to take heroin every three days, though he was conscientiously lowering the dose a miniscule amount per month. He still craved the peaceful oblivion it brought him and, on the rare occasions that he was significantly late in taking it, he found that the memories still began to rise up. He had no plans to try and kick the drug. He was in no hurry, and time was on his side.   
  
* * * * *   
  
  
A few months after their grand opening, the restaurant had built up a good reputation and was popular with both locals and tourists.   
  
As Tosh set up the front of the restaurant for the day, Jack bustled about in the kitchen, preparing the day's menu. The radio was blaring out, and Jack was singing along. He's better than the singer on the radio thought Tosh, amused. And he was happy. She stopped work and listened as he sang.   
  
“It's a new dawn, a new day, a new life. It's a new life for me. And I'm feeling good,” Jack sang, reaching a crescendo on the word feeling.   
  
And it was true she thought. Jack did have a new life, all three of them did, and it was good.


	41. Chapter 41

Epilogue  
  
As the years went by, Jack, Tosh and Ianto sold up and moved every ten years or so, so that no one would notice that Jack did not age. Tosh bore Jack's children, and Jack bore Ianto's. Owen and Joanne provided the medical backup needed for a male pregnancy. Tosh and Ianto instilled in their children a strong sense of loyalty and protectiveness to the immortal, that lasted down the generations. They taught Jack to love and trust again, and to love the descendents of their children as much as the first generation. When mankind left the Earth for the stars Jack went with them.   
  
* * * * *   
  
  
The TARDIS landed in the year 1.352 billion on New Cardiff. The Doctor and Martha exited, with the Doctor expounding about how peaceful New Cardiff was, and how it was the perfect place for a holiday. However, as they came out of the TARDIS, the Doctor's skin began to prickle. He frowned. It felt almost as if he were near a rip in the space time continuum, though there were no records of such a phenomenon here. Pushing aside his disquiet, he and Martha headed for the capitol city of Nagoya.   
  
Martha was confused. “Why would a planet that is named after a Welsh city have a capital named after a Japanese city?” she asked. “Or am I being too parochial and neither of them have anything to do with Wales, or Japan or even Earth?”  
  
“No, it does refer to Earth,” the Doctor assured her. “For some reason, when humans left Earth, they brought with them a preference for Welsh and Japanese place names. I've never understood why.”  
  
After a half hour walk, the Doctor and Martha had reached the city, and the Doctor was trying to navigate them to the Presidential Palace. Finally, the Palace came in to view. “Wow,” exclaimed Martha, “it's gorgeous. Do you think they do tours?”  
  
“We can but ask,” said the Doctor enthusiastically, ignoring the prickling which had been increasing ever since they arrived. He walked up to the main doors and knocked loudly.   
  
“Doctor, no!” hissed Martha. “You can't just knock on the Palace doors. That's like knocking on the main door of Buckingham Palace.”  
  
“Oh, they won't mind,” the Doctor said cheerfully. “Look, there's no guards, they obviously don't mind visitors. And it's way more important than Buck House. Nagoya is the capitol of this entire quadrant of space.”  
  
Martha was astounded when the doors opened and a man invited them inside. “Welcome,” he said, “The President would like to see you.”  
  
Martha gaped, “They would? Why?”  
  
“Come this way,” was the only answer.   
  
They were taken through the corridors of the most luxurious building Martha had ever seen. And she had been on the Buckingham Palace tour. Eventually their guide stopped outside a pair of massive doors and knocked. The doors were opened and, as they were, the Doctor staggered. His skin was now tingling as if a thousand needles were pricking him. And, as he looked into the room, he could see a shape, which his eyes refused to focus on. The shape moved towards him, and, as it moved, timelines swirled around it in eddies. It was terrifying. The age of the being, for that is what it was, the Doctor realised, was beyond belief.   
  
The Doctor practically fell, only held up by his grip on Martha's arm. He felt sick, as his time sense was assaulted. He couldn't even attempt to look. As he hung onto Martha, the being removed the shields around its mind. It made no effort to penetrate his Gallifreyan shields, but it was as if they did not exist. The Doctor gasped. This was the most powerful being he had ever encountered, it made the Time Lords look like children. As he shrank away from it, he heard Martha say with surprise, “Jack!”  
  
* * * *  
  
As they entered the room, Martha felt the Doctor sag against her. She was now practically holding him up, but had no idea of what was wrong with him. She looked towards the President, who was approaching them, and, with shock, recognised him. He looked exactly the same as when she had seen him before their encounter with the Master, one year ago in her timeline.“Jack!”   
  
Jack looked at her strangely, then he seemed to look inwards for a moment. “Tish?” he queried.  
  
“No, it's me Martha, Tish is my sister.”  
  
Jack thought for a moment, sifting through his most distant memories, then he smiled. “Ah yes, Martha Jones, companion of the Doctor. Your sister was a good friend to me. You are welcome to New Cardiff.”   
  
He then looked across at the Doctor and his expression changed to one of contempt. “And the treacherous Time Lord, the consummate betrayer. How many times did you abandon me? Three, I think it was. How many other companions have you abandoned over the centuries?”   
  
Jack brushed the Doctor's mind once more, as the answer to his question bubbled up to the surface of the Doctor's thoughts. “So many,” he murmured.  
  
The Doctor cringed. Martha steered him to sit in one of the chairs along the wall. “I don't know what is wrong with him,” she told Jack. “He was fine before we came in here.”  
  
“He can feel me,” Jack explained. “He always thought I was wrong, and that wrongness would increase with time. So now that I am older it affects him like this.”  
  
“But you don't look much older,” Martha said with surprise.   
  
“Do you know what year this is?” Jack asked her gently.  
  
“Yes, the Doctor said it was the year, er …, something billion.”   
  
“Close enough,” Jack smiled. “You travelled in time to get here, I came by the slow path.”  
  
Martha was stunned. “You can't mean that you are 1 billion years old!”  
  
Jack nodded, “approximately.”  
  
“But you look just the same,” she stuttered, repeating herself.   
  
“How long has it been for you?” Jack asked.   
  
“Only about a year since I last saw you.” She looked dubious. “If it's been so long for you, how do you even remember who we are? Did you meet me, or the Doctor, in the meantime?”  
  
“No, I haven't seen the Doctor in all the millennia I've lived since the Valiant. I think he has been avoiding me. But there are some things you never forget,” he added darkly.   
  
Jack then turned his attention to the Doctor, who could still not look at him. “I felt a TARDIS arrive, and the presence of a Time Lord. I can feel all the humans, but Time Lords stand out from them.”   
  
As Jack walked even closer, the Doctor forced himself to open his eyes and look at him. He wavered, but Jack grasped his chin and looked him straight in the eyes. For the Doctor it was like looking into the Untempered Schism, and he shuddered.   
  
“So that is how little you thought of me,” Jack murmured sadly. “You should know the truth.”   
  
As he spoke, Jack opened the door in his mind fully to one of his most distant, and worst, memories. He let it flow into the Doctor's mind. To the Doctor it seemed to last for days, but in reality only minutes passed. Martha looked on anxiously.   
  
The Doctor felt the full impact of Jack's memories of the Valiant, and the events that followed. He knew intimately the depths of agony and despair that Jack had felt, and his desperation for help, that had never come. He felt the emotional devastation that Jack had felt when he was reviled by the friends he was sacrificing so much for.   
  
As the Doctor wilted under the weight of the knowledge of how badly he had misjudged Jack, and what his abandonment had condemned the immortal to, shame overwhelmed him. He would never be able to face Jack again after this day. “I'm so sorry. I should have believed in you. I should have known you would never rape Tish. I should have tried to help you. I should have made sure that you were alright before I left.”  
  
Martha started at the mention of Tish. She hadn't had any inkling that the Doctor thought Jack had raped her sister.   
  
As the Doctor ceased babbling, Jack spoke. “You always did find it easy to abandon me.”  
  
The Doctor cringed again. He couldn't deny it.   
  
“I just have one thing to say to you,” Jack said.   
  
“What?” gasped the Doctor.  
  
“I forgive you.”  
  
  
End  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I was inspired in this chapter by a couple of stories I read of the Doctor meeting Jack when he was hundreds of thousands or millions of years old. One was Identities by Ry (dreamsforlease and curseangel) wish I could remember the other title and author.
> 
> And no, Jack was not a head in a jar, I always hated the idea of that fate for him and I hoped he was just winding Martha and the Doctor up.


End file.
